Ex-France defender Jean-Pierre Adams has passed away at the age of 73, both PSG and Nimes – the clubs he used to play for – announced on Monday.
In 1982, a near-fatal dose of anaesthetic was administered to Adams before a routine knee operation. The anaesthesia caused major brain damage, which made him enter a coma.
The Senegal-born defender represented OGC Nice in over 150 appearances and has also plied his trade Paris Saint-Germain. The centre-back earned 22 caps for France national team in the 1970s, and there he formed a great defensive partnership with Marius Tresor. The defensive duo were known as the “Black Guard”.
Adams suffered from a damaged tendon in his knee during a coaching training camp. He was rushed to the Lyon hospital where many staff were on strike. However, his operation still went through, but the only problem was that the anaesthetist came to his aid while looking at eight other patients.
Adams, who was supervised by a trainee for the operation later said:
“I was not up to the task I was entrusted with.”
Reports suggest that there were several errors made by the anaesthetist and trainee which led to Adam’s brain damage, and he fell into a coma.
It was only in the mid-1990s that the trainee and the anaesthetist were punished. But still, their punishment was nothing close to what Adams had suffered for almost the majority of his lifetime.
The duo were punished with a one-month suspended sentence and only a 750 euro fine. He was discharged from the hospital after 15 months and was cared for at his home in Nimes by his wife Bernadette Adams ever since.
According to Bernadette, the anaesthetist missed signals that her husband’s oxygen levels were going down because of his skin colour. While the Frenchman could open his mouth to eat and drink, he lost his power to move or speak.
‘He senses that it is not me feeding him and looking after him.’
Bernadette told CNN last year,
