French soccer star Jean-Pierre Adams, who spent 39 years in a coma following a botched knee surgery, has died at the age of 73.
The central defender's former club Nimes Olympique confirmed the news.
"We learned this morning of the passing of Jean-Pierre Adams," Nimes wrote on Twitter. "He had worn the colors of Nimes Olympique 84 times and with Marius Trésor made up 'the black guard' of the French team. The club offers its most sincere condolences to his loved ones and his family."
Adams began his career in Fontainebleu. It was here that he helped the local side win its amateur championship, according to CNN. He then signed with Nimes' first division soccer side, which he helped finish as runner-ups within two years. He and Marius Trésor formed a central partnership known as the "Garde Noire" — "Black Guard."
From there, Adams went on to play in France's top division for nine consecutive seasons. During that time he also represented Nice and Paris Saint-Germain.
Adams entered Lyon Hospital in 1982, at age 34, to undergo knee surgery to repair a tendon he had damaged during a coaching training camp, Newsweek reported. On the morning of the operation he told his wife, "It's all fine, I'm in great shape," according to the outlet, but during the procedure problems with his supply of anesthetic left him in a persistent vegetative state.
"The female anesthetist was looking after eight patients, one after the other, like an assembly line," his wife Bernadette, told CNN in 2016. "Jean-Pierre was supervised by a trainee, who was repeating a year, who later admitted in court: 'I was not up to the task I was entrusted with.' Given it was not a vital operation, that the hospital was on strike, they were missing doctors and this woman was looking after eight patients, in two different rooms, someone should have called me to say they were going to delay the operation."
That did not happen and numerous mistakes led to Adams' coma. He was pronounced dead on Sept. 6, 2021, at the Nîmes University Hospital in France.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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