Former France international Jean-Pierre Adams dies at age of 73 almost 40 years after falling into coma
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Updated 06/09/2021 at 12:25 GMT
Adams, who won 22 caps for France, was administered a near fatal dose of anaesthetic before a routine knee operation in 1982. He had been cared for by his wife, Bernadette. Born in Dakar, then part of French West Africa, Adams played most prominently for Nimes, Nice and Paris Saint-Germain at club level.
Jean-Pierre Adams
Image credit: Getty Images
Former France international Jean-Pierre Adams has died at the age of 73 nearly 40 years after falling into a coma.
Adams, who won 22 caps for Les Bleus between 1972 and 1976, had been in a coma for the last 39-and-a-half years of his life.
He was administered a near-fatal dose of anaesthetic before a routine knee operation, suffering brain damage from which he would not recover.
Born in Dakar, then part of French West Africa, Adams played for Nimes, Nice and Paris Saint-Germain.
He had been cared for by his wife, Bernadette, who had a house custom-built to better look after her husband.
As reported in The Blizzard, and published in the Guardian, she said in 2007: "Jean-Pierre feels, smells, hears, jumps when a dog barks. But he cannot see."
"I have the feeling that time stopped on 17 March 1982," Bernadette further explained in a discussion with Midi Libre in 2012.
"There are no changes, either good or bad. While he does not need respiratory assistance, he remains in a vegetative state.
"Last year, we met a neurologist specialising in brain injury from Carémeau [the hospital in Nîmes] through an acquaintance.
"He ran his tests and examinations at the hospital, which confirmed very significant damage. There was a lot of damage in the brain. But he does not age, but for a few white hairs."
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