Akeem in a coma

Doctors say there is nothing more they can do for footballer Akeem Adams who slipped into a coma on Saturday night after suffering a massive stroke. The 22-year-old Ferencvaros player had been waiting for a heart transplant for the past three months after suffering a heart attack in Hungary in September. He has been warded in the ICU of Városmajori Heart Clinic in Budapest. According to a report on the Soca Warriors Web site, Adams suffered serious bleeding to his brain as a result of the stroke.

“It seems like only a miracle can save him now,” said a source, who preferred to remain anonymous until Ferencvaros made an official statement. “Even if he does come through, the damage to his brain could mean that he is not the same again. It is really horrible news.” The official Ferencvaros Web site confirmed that Adams’ condition has become critical but asked for patience and that the privacy of the player be respected.

The sudden downward turn in Adam’s condition came as a shock to his family and friends back in T&T since on Boxing Day he had spoken to several of them and said he was in good spirits and that doctors expected to perform the transplant on February 4. Adams has been in a Budapest heart clinic since he suffered a massive heart attack in his apartment. He had been based in Hungary since August on a year-long contract with top football club Ferencvarosi TC.

The 22-year-old was taken to a Budapest hospital after complaining of dizziness after his club scored a 3-1 win over arch-rivals Ujpest. Adams had played six matches for the 26-times Hungarian champions. One of his teammates, Tamas Csilus, recalled: “After training we were talking a lot and smiling and even dancing a bit. Then, about three hours after, Akeem called the woman at the club and said he wasn’t feeling good. “Ten minutes later we found him out at his home and he was rushed to the hospital.”

After the heart attack, Adams underwent four emergency operations, including one in which he was fitted with an artificial heart and a life-saving procedure in which his left leg was surgically removed  due to necrosis (cell death) in that limb. That complication arose because of the collapse of Adam’s circulation following the heart attack.

The surgery was successful and Adams’ circulation stabilised but his condition remained critical. Chief cardiologist at Hungary’s National Sport Centre Dr Szelid Zsolt had said on club’s Web site that the surgeries prevented the possibility of further heart attacks but Adams’ vascular system was still critical.

Adams’ health had improved last month and doctors were hopeful that he would have been strong enough for a heart transplant before Christmas. However, the anticipated transplant never materialised because of slow healing following the amputation of his leg. 

In T&T, thousands of concerned citizens purchased “I support Akeem” T-shirts from Native Spirit, as part of a Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s Heart of a Warrior fund-raising drive for the player. Help also came from private groups, including the SocaWarriors.net fan site, his alma mater, Presentation College, San Fernando, and Pro League clubs, DirecTV W Connection and Central FC.

Hundreds of people in Budapest donated blood to the critically ill, who had only joined the Hungarian top flight club in August. Companies there donated thousands of euros to his care and Ferencvaros paid for Adams’ mother Ancilla Dick, and brother Akini Adams to travel to Hungary on September 28 to be at his side. Adams made his professional debut in 2008 with W Connection, before moving to United Petrotrin a season later. 

He received a trial with the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer and played the second half of an international friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara on October 12, 2010, in Seattle.