With my Sevilla scarf proudly wrapped around my neck on Saturday, I watched one of the scariest things I have seen in my football career.
During the Sevilla-Getafe match, Sevilla fullback Antonio Puerta collapsed on the field after running back to defend a Getafe counter attack. When Puerta hit the ground, he was unconscious and worse, he was beginning to swallow his tongue. Teammate Ivan Dragutinovic saw Puerta hit the ground, ran over to his side, and pried his jaw open in order to grab his tongue so he did not affixiate as the medical staff for Sevilla rushed onto the field.
Mind you…this was all on live TV.
As the medical staff reached Puerta, he sat up and walked off the pitch under his own power, seemingly alright, but with something obviously wrong.
Puerta made it back to the dressing room, but his heart stopped again and CPR was preformed on him before rushing him to El hospital Virgen del Rocio, in Sevilla.
He suffered two more stoppages of his heart in the hospital while being treated by doctors attempting to find the cause of the problem.
Doctors report that Puerta is in what we would call ‘critical but stable’ condition at the moment. His breathing is being assisted by a respirator for fear that his heart will stop again and he will quit breathing. He is also under heavy sedatives so that he does not awake as they run tests to see what is the cause of the problem.
Last season, Puerta had a ‘heart’ problem, but passed rigorous doctor and medical tests to return to action. Doctors are looking to see if this is related to his current condition, but have not released any more info as of yet.
Real Betis, Sevilla’s eternal rivals, have issued a statement wishing for a speedy recovery, along with the rest of the Spanish Footballing Community.
As more information becomes available, I will make sure to have it here.
It is a shame to say, but times like this show that our favorite players are not invincible as we think they are. And even if they do miss goals from 2 feet away, they are still people, and bad things can happen.
If you want to send your words of encouragement to Puerta, email puertaestamoscontigo@sevillafc.es
Please join me and the Spanish community and keep Antonio Puerta in your prayers.
Filed under: Antonio Puerta, Sevilla FC |
Center Holds It 
I was watching the match and it was obvious that it was something serious. All the best to Antonio.
Whoa, that’s terrible. I didn’t think soccer was exciting enough to even get a heart attack watching the game.
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As a Betis fan, I hate…HATE…those bastards from across town. But, man, that was just awful and I felt the blood drain from my face when I saw the highlights on FSN. I love “the futbol” and sincerely hope that Puerta recovers well and is able to play again. My thoughts are with him and his family and, while I loathe the red and white, I…gulp…hope that the team rallies around the shock to…gulp…(cringe) get some good results.
!Suerte Antonio, suerte!
What a tasteless thing to say. Unbelievable.
I was watching the game too…this looks bad 😦
according to spanish media Puerta died … 😦
saw that too, i watched that game and hands-to-face couldn’t move – we’re all Sevilla fans for now…
Three words – Performance Enhancing Drugs
Two words..jodete cabron
The truth sucks, don’t it, cabron!
I would enjoy to see an article linking Puerta to performance enhancing drugs.
That’s the real crime of this whole thing. You never will. Just like you’ll never read about those Real players (and others) who visited Dr. Fuentes regularly or the Spanish tennis star(s) who were also implicated. Do you think the money men want that kind of publicity? But slice it as you may, it’s out there and it’s institutional.
ok, but actually Puerta has had this condition for his entire life, since it was hereditary.
I know that some out there are linked to performance enhancing drugs but Puerta had a heart problem that caused his death. Just like I have a heart problem I have to be careful with.
Do you really think the Spanish National Team doctors wouldn’t know about this condition IF it existed in his family? It is a hereditary condition and can be seen in other family members. They DO have sophisticated heart testing equipment in Spain. Because it’s a convenient excuse to cover up the real truth.
They knew it existed..he had problems with it last season and underwent testing to get a clearance to play. The condition was diagnosed a long time ago for him.
Not the “condition” which led to his sudden death. Would Sevilla or Spain accept the risk of their player falling over dead, on the pitch, if they truely knew? That would be near criminal and would cause a sure outcry. No, his “condition” was due to other factors seeingly controllable enough to led him continue playing. Only, his blood circulation apparatus had other ideas.
It’s not that simple. I have a heart condition that could make me drop dead at any moment. I have to be tested every year before I do anything to make sure I am fit, and still play soccer 3 nights a week along with hockey. The doctors have told me I could drop dead at any moment, but you take that chance when you play. And I’m not on any drugs.
As long as you pass the tests, the doctors can’t tell you not to play. He passed out on two other occasions, but with no heart stoppage and passed tests to declare him match fit. So there was no reason for him not to play.
It’s not even as if Puerta was a stud for the Spanish national side like Torres or Sergio Ramos, so why the drug reference in the first place??
Because performance enhancing drugs of one sort or another are rampant in elite sports, Euro football not being an exeption. Just put 2+2+2 together and you get a sticky wicket. FC Sevilla was mentioned in the Dr. Fuentes case as being a client. FC Sevilla has had some would say surprisingly great results the last couple of years. And most tellingly, Spainish sports authorities aren’t yet serious about anti-doping controls. The Operation Puerto thing fell in their laps like a gift from heaven and NO Spanish athletes have taken the fall. Not-Spanish yet but NO Spanish athletes. Sounds likes home-cooking to me. Everybody hears about cycling (where the Spanish riders are among the worst abusers) or track-field but football is just as much an endurance sport. Why wouldn’t unscrupulous folks take advantage of what’s available? Heck, a bunch of Italians died like in the 70’s or 80’s from stuff the team doctors gave them. Do you really think any of that has stopped?
Just watched a report about a French pro who stopped his career because the tests showed he had the same “supposed” condition as Puerta. The team doctors at FC Strasbourg discovered his anomoly after specific testing. The guy said basta after he learned. I guess FC Sevilla and the Spanish National Team don’t have access to that sort of testing?
[…] The other thing that is getting me is that Sevilla has been on the list of being one of the clubs suspected of doping. I haven’t seen any reports or articles about this, so if anyone has a good link to this, I would love to read it. When I posted about Puerta’s death in the first place, a commenter posted about Spanish doping. Read it here […]