Ajax star Abdelhak Nouri who was left in a coma after collapsing on the pitch is now ‘doing well’ and communicating with his family
- ‘Appie’ has severe and permanent brain damage after cardiac arrhythmia attack
- Midfielder, 22, is recovering at home where he ‘sleeps, eats, frowns and burps’
- Nouri can react to watching football and communicates using his eyebrows
A Dutch footballer who was left in a coma after collapsing on the pitch is ‘doing well’ on his road to recovery, his loved ones say.
Ajax’s Abdelhak ‘Appie’ Nouri sustained severe and permanent brain damage after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia attack in a pre-season friendly in July 2017.
The 22-year-old was in a coma for months but is now recovering in a house built especially for him, where he ‘sleeps, eats, frowns and burps but is very dependent,’ according to Dutch website AD.
Abdelhak Nouri, pictured for Ajax in a match against Roda, collapsed in July 2017 and was left in a coma for months
Nouri’s brother Abderrahim said the pair communicate through raising their eyebrows but the promising midfielder also physically reacts when watching football on television.
His father Mohammed told the site the family had been through a ‘serious ordeal’, adding: ‘We have to take care of him at our very best. We try to do a lot ourselves.’
Meanwhile, Barcelona star and former Ajax teammate Frenkie De Jong revealed how Nouri even played a part in securing his move to the Spanish giants.
‘He talked to me a lot in a summer,’ he said.
‘When I sat with him, his mother came in. She then asked Appie, ‘Appie, where should Frenkie go? To Barcelona?’ As soon as she said that, his eyebrow rose. That was a very special moment.’
Nouri burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2016 and was considered one of Ajax’s most talented prospects.