Jean-Pierre Adams
Ex-French international player dies in a coma after almost 40 years
Jean-Pierre Adams (on the ground) during an international match between Germany and France in a duel with Gerd Müller. The German striker legend also passed away recently.
© imago / WEREK / Imago Images
Former French international Jean-Pierre Adams has died at the age of 73. He had been in a coma since 1982 after an unsuccessful medical procedure.
As the French football association FFF announced on its website, Jean-Pierre Adams died on Monday in the university hospital in Nîmes. The former national defender had previously been in a coma for 39 years. In March 1982, Adams underwent a rather minor knee operation. However, because the dose of the anesthetic was wrong, the athlete’s brain was damaged and he fell into a coma.
As a result, he was cared for in her home by his wife Bernadette for almost four decades. In an interview with CNN, she made serious allegations against the anesthetist: She was overworked, so a junior employee looked after her husband. However, this was overwhelmed. Both were later sentenced by a court to relatively mild probation and fines. Adams should never wake up again.
Jean-Pierre Adams appeared for “Les Bleus” 22 times
FFF President Noël Le Graët paid tribute to the life and achievement of Adams: “Jean-Pierre Adams was an example of his life and career as a respected and feared opponent,” said Le Graët of the man who was at the side of in the 1970s Marius Trésor formed a legendary defender duo. And further: “Jean-Pierre Adams is part of the history of the French team, its influence, its values.” It is a day of mourning in French football, said Le Graët. His thoughts were with the family.
Adams was born in Dakar in what is now Senegal in 1948 and came to France as a child. He ran as a professional in the 1970s for Olympique Nîmes, OGC Nice and Paris Saint-Germain, among others. He also played 22 games for the Equipe Tricolore as a defender between 1972 and 1976. He leaves behind his wife and two sons.
Sources:FFF, CNN
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