Former France defender Jean-Pierre Adams has died aged 73 after almost 40 years in a coma, his former clubs, Paris St Germain and Nimes, said on Monday, September 06, 2021.
Adams, who made 22 international appearances in the 1970s, slipped into a coma after a mistake by the anaesthetist during routine knee surgery in 1982.
“His joie de vivre, his charisma and his experience command respect. Paris Saint-Germain offers its condolences to his family and loved ones,” PSG said in a statement Monday.
Adams, cared for by his wife Bernadette, has been lying in a coma at his home in the southern French city of Nimes since 1982.
He was injured in a match and required knee surgery. During the operation at Lyon Hospital, an anaesthetic error saw him fall into a coma.
As a young boy, Adams left his home country of Senegal with a passion for soccer.
He was spotted by Nimes in 1970 and went on to score 10 goals in 98 matches for the club before playing almost 150 games and scoring 17 goals for Nice.
The anaesthetist had to take responsibility for eight patients that day — many of the staff at the hospital were on strike — and left a trainee to keep an eye on Adams.
Both were found guilty in court in the 1990s and received a one-month suspended sentence and a 750 euro ($890) fine.
“I was not up to the task I was entrusted with,” commented the trainee later.
His widow Bernadette cared for him for the remainder of his life following his discharge from hospital 15 months after the operation.
“Jean-Pierre feels, smells, hears, jumps when a dog barks. But he cannot see,” Bernadette said in 2007.
