A celebrated French soccer icon Jean-Pierre Adams succumbed to the prolonged coma he had been in since 1982. Adams, who was only 34 at the time, underwent a routine knee surgery, during which an anesthesia error left him comatose for thirty-nine long years. The once-vibrant athlete breathed through a tube, completely cut off from the world outside his body, until his passing at the age of seventy-three.
On March 17, 1982, Adams entered Lyon Hospital in France for what should have been a simple procedure. Despite his confidence in the surgery and his own good health, an unfortunate miscalculation in anesthesia dosage left him trapped in a never-ending slumber. Adams, a proud father, and husband passed away at the Nimes University Hospital on September 6, 2021.
Before the ill-fated surgery, Adams had achieved remarkable success on the soccer field, earning twenty-two international caps for France. He expressed his optimism about the procedure, assuring his wife, Bernadette, that he was in “great shape.” Tragically, the doctors’ error plunged him into a coma that would ultimately span more than half his life.
The extent of the anesthesia error became apparent when Adams failed to awaken post-surgery. Compounding the issue, the doctor responsible for his care was simultaneously managing eight other patients, leaving the soccer star vulnerable. Born in Dakar, Senegal in 1948, Adams had no way of knowing his life would take such a devastating turn.
In what would become his final conversation, Adams told Bernadette on the morning of his surgery, “It’s all fine. I’m in great shape.” After the tragic incident, she remained steadfast in her support, raising their two sons, Laurent and Frédéric, while caring for her comatose husband. Speaking in 2007, Bernadette shared that Adams could “feel, smell, hear, and jump when a dog barks,” but he was unable to see.
Following the disastrous surgical mistake, Adams’s case sparked a seven-year legal battle. The Seventh Chamber of Correctional Tribunal in Lyon ultimately found the doctors guilty of involuntary injury. In April 2020, Bernadette addressed rumors of euthanasia, asserting that her husband was not “plugged” and she could not bring herself to cease providing him food and water.
Despite her unwavering dedication, Bernadette faced criticism from those like Marius Tresor, Adams’s former teammate on the French national team. The two formed a formidable defensive partnership from 1972 to 1976, known as “the Black Guard.” Tresor, in a 2019 interview with Paris United, questioned the value of Adams’s continued existence in such a state and shared his own preference to be let go in similar circumstances.
Even as they faced insurmountable odds, Bernadette’s devotion to her husband in the face of tragedy speaks to the power of love and commitment, providing a bittersweet tale that will resonate with many.
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Source: AWM