Former French footballer Jean-Pierre Adams dies after 39 years in a coma

(CNN) – Jean-Pierre Adams, a former soccer player who fell into a coma in 1982 after a failed knee operation, died at the age of 73, his former clubs Nimes Olympique, Paris Saint-Germain and Nice said.

Adams, a towering central defender, began his career at Fontainebleu, where he helped the home team win their amateur championship, before moving to Nimes to join the city’s then first division team.

In two years, Nimes had not only finished runner-up, but Adams was playing for France, becoming one of the first black players to do so.

With the national team, Adams formed a central defensive association known as the “Garde Noire” – “Black Guard” – alongside Marius Trésor.

“We learned this morning of the passing of Jean-Pierre Adams,” Nimes wrote on Twitter. “He wore the Nimes Olympique colors 84 times and with Marius Trésor he was ‘the black guard’ of the French team.

“The club offers its sincerest condolences to his loved ones and his family.”

Adams, who was born in Senegal, went on to play for nine consecutive seasons in the French first division, also representing Nice and Paris Saint-Germain while accumulating 22 appearances for the French national team.

“Nice was heartbroken upon learning of the death of Jean-Pierre Adams, who fell into a coma on March 17, 1982,” the football club wrote on Twitter.

“The former defender wore the club’s colors 145 times between 1973 and 1977. OGC Nice sympathizes with the pain of his relatives who have cared for him for 39 years.”

Nice say they will pay tribute to Adams in their home game against Monaco on 19 September.

Adams played for Nimes, Nice and PSG before slipping into a coma.

The failed surgery that led to a coma

On Wednesday, March 17, 1982, Adams was admitted to the hospital for a routine operation on a damaged tendon in his knee. When the date arrived, all the hospital staff were on strike.

“The anesthetist was taking care of eight patients, one after the other, like an assembly line,” his wife Bernadette, who cared for Adams at home during his coma, told CNN in 2016.

“Jean-Pierre was supervised by an apprentice, who was repeating a year, who later admitted in court: ‘I was not up to the task that was entrusted to me.’

“Since it was not a vital operation, the hospital was on strike, there was a shortage of doctors and this woman was treating eight patients, in two different rooms, someone should have called me to say they were going to delay the operation. They never did – and between the anesthetist and the trainee, numerous mistakes were made. “

Adams was poorly intubated, with a tube blocking the way to his lungs instead of ventilating them, meaning he was without oxygen for which he suffered a heart attack.

“PSG has lost, this Monday, September 6, one of its greatest glories,” PSG wrote on Twitter.

“The defender of the Red and Blue and the French national team, Jean-Pierre Adams wore the Parisian colors from 1977 to 1979. The Club offers its condolences to his family and loved ones.”