Ajax footballer Abdelhak Nouri wakes up from coma after nearly 3 years

The Dutch midfielder made a total of nine competitive first-team appearances for Ajax before his career was cut short following cardiac arrest.

Image Credits: Twitter/@adriandelmonte

After two years and eight months, Ajax midfielder Abdelhak Nouri woke up from coma and was shifted to his home in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Nouri, who is 22-year-old at the moment, fell at the ground after sustaining a cardiac arrhythmia arrest during a friendly match between his Dutch club Ajax and German team Werder Bremen on July 8, 2017. Following the incident, the midfielder sustained a permanant brain damage.

However, Nouri's family has recently confirmed that the Ajax star has recently woken up from coma and is responding to things around him even though he continues to remain bedridden.

Nouri's brother Abderrahim said that the midfielder is responding to football on TV with his eyebrows or a smile.

"He has not been home very long, we take care of him there now.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," goal.com quoted Abderrahim as saying.

"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 examples," he added.

The Dutch midfielder made a total of nine competitive first-team appearances for Ajax. However, his career was cut short during the club's pre-season tour of the Austrian Alps in July 2017 following the incident.