Paris Saint-Germain and Nimes announced the death of former France defender Jean-Pierre Adams at the age of 73, nearly 40 years after he fell into a coma due to a medical error during a minor knee surgery.
In 1982, Adams was given a near-killing dose of anesthesia during a conventional knee surgery, causing brain damage and keeping him in a coma for decades. The French press dubbed him the "Sleeping Giant".
Le @PSG_inside a perdu, ce lundi 6 septembre, l'un de ses glorieux anciens.
Défenseur des Rouge et Bleu et de l'Équipe de France, Jean-Pierre Adams avait porté les couleurs parisiennes de 1977 à 1979.
Le Club présente ses condoléances à sa famille et à ses proches.
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) September 6, 2021
Adams, born in Dakar, played 22 caps for France in the 1970s, and formed a duo with Marius Tresor known as the "Black Guard".
Adams played with the Nimes team during the period 1970-1973, and defended the colors of Paris Saint-Germain during the period 1977-1979 from Nice.
Nous avons appris ce matin la disparition de Jean-Pierre Adams.
Il avait porté les couleurs du Nîmes Olympique à 84 reprises et formait avec Marius Trésor "la garde noire" en Équipe de France.
Le Club présente ses plus sincères condoléances à ses proches et à sa famille.
pic.twitter.com/jt5AqinXDg
— 🐊 Nîmes Olympique (@nimesolympique) September 6, 2021
In 1977, Adams, at the age of 29, signed a big contract with Paris Saint-Germain, which he represented in two years in 42 matches, during which he scored two goals, and established his name as one of the most important players in the first decade of the Parisian club.
Adams' abilities have been praised by his international teammates including famed midfielder Henri Michel, whom he described as "a determined force of nature".
Adams ended his football career at the age of 33 with Polish striker Josef Klose, father of German legend Miroslav - where they played together in one of the second division teams - due to a torn knee ligament, as he entered Edward Heriot Hospital in Lyon in 1982 for a routine surgery that was expected to He leaves the hospital a few days later.
fatal medical error
But things went tragically when the anesthesiologist made a semi-fatal mistake and gave Adams the wrong dose before the operation, so the strong athlete suffered from bronchospasm, which led to the lack of oxygen reaching his head, to enter into a permanent coma to this day, when he reached the age of about 73 general.
In the 1990s, a French court sentenced the anesthesiologist to a suspended one-month prison sentence, in addition to a heavy fine.
Despite the passage of nearly four decades since he entered a coma, his wife Bernadette did not abandon his care and attention to his needs in their home near Nîmes, southern France.
Adams in a coma could not communicate with anyone or even express his feelings, but he was still able to breathe and cough without the help of medical equipment, but he needed constant care from nurses and slept on a special medical bed for his condition.
After 39 years in coma, Jean-Pierre Adams has been confirmed dead this morning.
From March 1982 to his death in 2021, Adams was in a coma following an operation gone wrong.
Adams was born in Dakar, Senegal and played for @ogcnice, @PSG_inside, @nimesolympique amongst others.
pic.twitter.com/lnVmGnuTIo
— NUHU ®️ (@NuhuAdams_) September 6, 2021
"Some people are saying on Facebook that he should be disconnected from the devices, but he is not connected to the medical devices. I don't have the courage to stop feeding his body and water," Bernadette says, stressing that she is against euthanasia and refuses to abandon her husband.
But his wife's position does not agree with the opinion of his colleague in the defense of the former French national team, Tresor, who refuses to visit him since entering a coma.
"Even if Jean-Pierre woke up, he wouldn't recognize anyone," Tresor said. "Does he deserve to live like this? If something similar happened to me, I asked my wife not to keep me."