Dialyse statt Major Leagues: Ein siebzehnjähriger Baseball-Spieler in Santo Domingo kämpft nach der Gabe anaboler Steroide ums Überleben.
Joel Ortiz wanted to play professional baseball in the North American Major Leagues, but instead the 17-year-old landed on an intensive care unit in Santo Domingo suffering from acute kidney failure and myocarditis, handball-world reported.
Doctors puzzled over his condition until a physician asked whether he had been injected with anabolic steroids. Ortiz had received Winstrol, a powerful anabolic steroid, from his baseball coach.
“Die Ärzte sagten meiner Mutter bereits, dass es nichts weiter zu tun gibt, als einen Sarg zu kaufen,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz survived, but his kidneys barely function and he must undergo dialysis three times a week with arms scarred by venous access points. “Ich bin oft einfach nur kraftlos, dann habe ich keine Lust mehr zu leben,” he told handball-world.
His case is featured in a new six-part ARD documentary titled “Geheimsache Doping: Kinder” led by investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt. Investigative teams researched in more than 50 countries over six years.
Based on projections from roughly 50 scientific studies, the documentary estimates that at least ten million minors worldwide are affected by doping.
“Doping funktioniert nur mit Lüge, ohne Lüge kein Doping,” Seppelt said at the series premiere at the Thalia Kino in Potsdam-Babelsberg, criticizing international sports authorities for watching for decades while mechanisms failed to protect athletes.
Lars Mortsiefer, head of the board of directors of the German National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), called for consequences targeting the adults surrounding affected children. Parents, trainers, doctors, and caregivers must be held accountable, he argued.
“Man sollte Minderjährige nicht als Täter im klassischen Sinne eines Dopingverstoßes sehen, sondern als Opfer,” Mortsiefer said.
The documentary becomes available in the ARD Media Library on Friday, followed by a broadcast on Das Erste on Monday starting at 23:30 local time.
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