Tenerife players process grief after Jesús de Miguel’s death

Jesús de Miguel, a forward for CD Tenerife, died after a forceful collision with FC Andorra’s goalkeeper that triggered cardiac arrest, and the emotional burden now facing his teammates will be neither easy nor quick to manage, three mental health professionals told El Periódico.

The tragedy has placed Tenerife’s players in the position of processing a sudden, violent loss while preparing to continue their season. The specialists consulted by *El Periódico* described the most important steps for coping with grief in this situation.

Respect every emotion

Beatriz Galilea, a psychologist with a master’s degree in sports psychology and long experience working with elite athletes, said the priority is that each player processes the tragedy with whatever emotional response arises, whether rational, angry or sad. Individual grief must be respected, she said.

From there, Galilea noted, players in team sports hold an advantage: they can share what they are going through. When that happens, she said, it is easier, because each player sees how another is processing the grief, and that ends up benefiting the group.

“What if we had done something different?”

Ingrid Mulero, a clinical psychologist, raised another reflection: players will have to confront the thoughts the mind produces in a situation so shocking and unpredictable, such as wondering what would have happened if they had done something differently.

Mulero said tragedies of this kind confront people with the fragility of life and with uncertainty, which makes human beings extremely vulnerable, despite the ego that leads them to believe they can control everything.

The fear that it could happen again

Mulero added that after an emotionally impactful recent event, people tend to consider that it could happen again, and that can generate a certain feeling of fear. In psychology, she said, this is known as the availability heuristic.

Rest, then a team meeting

Ana Ibáñez, a psychiatrist at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol in Badalona and a doctor specializing in sports medicine, stressed that in these cases the team must manage grief and anger, that it is important to rest, and that a team meeting should be held as soon as possible.

The objective, Ibáñez said, is emotional ventilation among the whole squad, away from the pitch, so that every player can express their feelings.

Preventing emotional fallout after incident

Post-traumatic stress is a possible outcome, and Ibáñez emphasized prevention: players should be informed about what the next days will bring, what emotions they may experience, and that support resources are available. The situation will be complex, she said, and a feeling of anger may appear because of the brutality of the collision with the Andorra goalkeeper that caused the cardiac arrest and, subsequently, the death of the Tenerife player.

More on this story: CD Tenerife player Jesús de Miguel dies after match collision · CD Tenerife forward Jesus de Miguel dies after collision with goalkeeper

More on Jesús: Jesús 'Demi' de Miguel dies at 30 after professional football career · Jesús de Miguel dies at 30 after collision and cardiac arrest · Jesús Owono collided with Jesús de Miguel before De Miguel's death