ROAD TO RECOVERY
Ajax star Abdelhak Nouri out of coma, at home and communicating with his family after collapsing on pitch in 2017
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AJAX star Abdelhak 'Appie' Nouri is fully out of a coma and able to communicate with family after going home, his brother has revealed.
The 22-year-old Dutch ace collapsed on the pitch in July 2017 after suffering a cardiac arrhythmia attack.
He sustained severe and permanent brain damage as a result of the incident.
But speaking in a special programme on Dutch TV, his brother Abderrahim has revealed that Appie, who came out of a medically-induced coma in August 2018, is out of hospital and at home and continues to progress.
The family live in a specially adapted house with Nouri able to sit up and in a wheelchair - but the 22-year-old remains "very dependent" on his family.
Abderrahim told De Wereld Draait Door: "I must say that since he is at home it is going much better than before in the hospital.
"He is aware of where he is, he is back in a familiar environment with his family. He’s no longer in a coma. He’s just awake.
"He sleeps, he sneezes, he eats, he burps, but it’s not like he gets out of bed. He’s very bedridden and still very dependent on us.
"On his good days, there is a form of communication, for example, confirmation with his eyebrows or a smile. But you notice that he can’t last that very long.
"We talk to him like he’s not sick. We take him into our conversations and we watch football with him in the living room, for example.
"Then he watches. You notice that he likes that very much. He often shows emotions. Sometimes he is emotional, but often there is also a smile.
"That does us good. That makes you really appreciate a smile."
His father Mohammed, visibly emotional on the show, continues to hope for a miracle.
He added: "We have to take care of him at our very best. We try to do a lot ourselves."
The news is all the more incredible given the fact the family said in July 2017 that he had virtually no chance of recovery and was in a permanent vegetative state.
Abderrahim said back then: "He cannot walk, cannot talk, he does not recognise us, does not know who we are. He does not feel anything, he does not hear anything.
"According to the doctor he can never do all that again, he will never heal."
But incredibly, Appie, who made his debut for the senior team aged 19 in September 2016, is now back communicating and spending time with his loved ones.
And even more remarkable is the fact he played a part in former Ajax star Frenkie de Jong's move to the club from Willem II and his subsequent transfer to Barcelona.
Barcelona's Frenkie De Jong, Tottenham's Steven Bergwijn and Donny van de Beek of Ajax all appeared on the show.
De Jong said: "He talked to me a lot in the summer.
"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 was considered the next Ajax superstar and was named in the team of the tournament at the Under-19 European Championship in 2016.
He collapsed during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen in the Austrian Alps.
Before the match at the small Lindenstadion Hippach, around 45 miles from Innsbruck, Appie, who played as a No 10, had complained of stomach pains and not slept well.
The heat was stifling that day, but still he played, replacing new Chelsea signing Hakim Ziyech at half-time.
It was in the 72nd minute that he slowed, gently lowered himself to the ground, then turned onto his back and stared into the sky.
It took ten seconds for the referee to realise that he was down and needed urgent medical help.
Another ten seconds passed before the Ajax physio arrived. Then, 35 seconds after he had gone down, the club doctor was alongside Nouri.
When Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar panicked, the Werder Bremen players reacted in shock and their own team doctor rushed onto the pitch to help too.
Pictures showed a screen being put up around Nouri as they attempted to help him - but clearly they feared the worst.
Local doctor Daniel Rainer rushed to the stadium to help too and said that after 13 minutes of treatment Nouri had a heartbeat and was breathing.
Nouri was then flown urgently to a nearby hospital by helicopter and placed in an induced coma.
Ajax admitted in June 2018 that their care of Nouri had been "inadequate".
Club medics spent too much time trying to clear the stricken footballer's airways, rather than checking his heartbeat and circulation.
Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar, Ajax's CEO, said at the time: "Had this happened, it's possible that Abdelhak would have come out in a better condition.
"This isn't certain, but it's a possibility.
"We recognise our responsibility and liability for the consequences of this."
Ajax midfielder Abdelhak Nouri collapses on pitch during reserve match with Werder Bremen
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Nouri was flown back to Holland for further treatment. He smiled in December 2017 after a football was placed in his hands while he went through rehab in a specialist centre in the southern city of Tilburg.
That now appears to have been the catalyst for his recovery and path to, ultimately, a better standard of living.
His brother Abderrahim put it best when he said: "Sometimes he is emotional, but often there is also a smile. That does us good. That makes you really appreciate a smile."
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