The harrowing story of Senegalese-French man Jean-Pierre Adams is truly enough to bring tears to your eyes.
Adams has been in coma since 1982, sadly due to medical negligence following an operation handled by a trainee at Lyon Hospital.
Before the era of Paul Pogba, N’golo Kante and Kylian Mbappe, Jean-Pierre Adams from Senegal was on his own path to French football, despite his African roots.
His football career kicked off when his family sent him off for further studies in Collège Saint-Louis.
He then had a brief stint at the military before being recommended to Nimes.
As a player, Jean was described as physically strong and very determined.
His defensive partnership with Marius Trésor which formed the “Garde Noire” – “Black Guard” – became very famous in his heyday.
After ending his career in the French Divisions, Jean-Pierre decided to take a stab at coaching and set off to Dijon in 1982 for studies and training.
Some damage to a tendon on his leg was however the beginning of a horrible nightmare for the retired footballer.
In hospital, doctors told him he had to undergo a knee operation but when he arrived at the scheduled date, doctors had gone on strike.
Since it wasn’t an emergency, Jean-Pierre was supposed to simply wait out the procedure but he was instead given an anesthetic to numb him from the procedure.
A few hours later, he fell into eternal coma as the anesthetist made a fatal flaw which starver Jean’s brain of oxygen.
Because of the strike, it was later discovered that that anesthetist was overseeing eight operations at the same time.
It is now 38 years since the fateful day and Jen-Pierre’s wife has been with him ever since, despite his vegetative state.
His last words to his wife prior to the procedure were, “It’s all fine, I’m in great shape.”
