Five days after he collapsed during a preseason friendly match, Ajax has announced that 20-year-old midfielder Abdelhak Nouri has been diagnosed with “serious and permanent brain damage.”
Abdelhak Nouri ‘diagnosed with serious and permanent brain damage’ after collapsing on Saturday
The Ajax midfielder had been kept in a medically induced coma before the diagnosis on Thursday.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Nouri collapsed on Saturday, during Ajax’s game against Werder Bremen, and was taken to a hospital by helicopter. The game, which was being played in Austria, was abandoned. Nouri had been kept in a medically induced coma until Thursday, when doctors woke him up and discovered that he had lost brain function.
His brother Abderrahim spoke to Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad about Abdelhak’s prognosis. Translated by Leander Schaerlaeckens:
This news came as a huge shock, as doctors had been previously optimistic about Nouri’s recovery. A CT scan showed no irregularities on Tuesday.
Last season, Nouri was named the Dutch second division’s player of the year for his performances with Ajax’s B team, and he was also a star player for the Netherlands Under-19 national team. He was expected to make a step up and play roles with the senior Ajax squad and Dutch Under-21 team this season.
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