*Former soccer player Jean-Pierre Adams has died after being in a coma for 39 years. The beloved French athlete was 73.
Adams’ former clubs — Nimes Olympique, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Nice — paid tribute in statements shared on social media.
“This morning, we learned about the death of Jean-Pierre Adams. He played for Nimes on 84 occasions and alongside Marius Tresor, he formed the ‘Black guard’ in the French national team,” Nimes Olympique wrote on Twitter, as translated by ESPN. “The club offers its most sincere condolences to his loved ones and family.”
“Paris Saint-Germain has lost one of its glorious former players,” PSG said in a statement translated by ESPN. “PSG offers its condolences to his family and loved ones.”
Nice said in a statement that the club will pay tribute to Adams before their next home game against Monaco on Sept. 19.
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Former France and PSG defender Jean-Pierre Adams has died at the age of 73, after being in a coma for the past 39 years.
In 1982, Adams was administered a near-fatal dose of anaesthetic ahead of a routine knee operation and never regained consciousness.
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— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 6, 2021
Born in Dakar, Senegal, Adams began his career in Fontainebleu before moving to Nimes, CNN reported. He played for Nimes for three years, from 1970 to 1973, and later for PSG from 1977 to 1979.
The Guardian writes, “In 1982, Adams was administered a near-fatal dose of anesthetic before a routine knee operation, which caused brain damage.”
Since the accident, Adams has been cared for by his wife, Bernadette. She said in 2007: “Jean-Pierre feels, smells, hears, jumps when a dog barks. But he cannot see.”
“The female anesthetist was looking after eight patients, one after the other, like an assembly line,” Bernadette said to CNN in 2017 of her husband’s botched surgery.
“Jean-Pierre was supervised by a trainee, who was repeating a year, who later admitted in court: ‘I was not up to the task I was entrusted with.’
“Given it was not a vital operation, that the hospital was on strike, they were missing doctors and this woman was looking after eight patients, in two different rooms, someone should have called me to say they were going to delay the operation.”
They never did and the anesthetist and trainee reportedly made numerous errors.
Adams was improperly intubated, which deprived him of oxygen and he suffered cardiac arrest and brain damage. The procedure left him comatose for nearly 40 years.
Adams is survived by his wife and their two sons.
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