Ghanaian Raphael Dwamena, Egnatia striker and former player for teams such as Levante and Zaragoza, died this Saturday during the Albanian Super League match that his team was playing against Partizani.
The footballer, as seen in the images of the match, faints 24 minutes into the match and, despite the quick and immediate intervention of the medical services, ends up dying.
Dwamena had undergone surgery in January 2020 in Zaragoza after suffering several similar episodes and had a defibrillator installed, which he decided to remove last year. The Ghanaian footballer was off the playing field for several months and doctors recommended he not play again, but he insisted on doing so. He signed a document in which he assumed the risks after being diagnosed with structural heart disease. And the consequences were terrible: Yesterday, he died on the grass to the horror of the fans.
But, unfortunately, the history of sports is full of tragic stories of athletes who died live before the horrified gaze of fans. These are some of those dramatic outcomes:
1. Nodar Kumaritashvili
Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili was a professional luger (luge is a Winter Olympic sport of bobsledding) since 2008. On February 12, 2010, when he was 21 years old, he was participating in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, when during training he went off the track and hit his head on a steel post. Although doctors tried to revive him, they failed and Kumaritashvili died.
2. Antonio Puerta
Without a doubt, one of the most mourned deaths in the world of football was that of Sevilla defender, Antonio Puerta. On August 25, 2007, the defender was playing in a match between the Andalusians and Getafe. Half an hour into the game, Puerta began to stagger and fall. He managed to get back up, but he was very dizzy and fell again. He was taken to the hospital where he died.
3. Marc-Vivien Foé
On June 26, 2003, Cameroonian soccer player Marc-Vivien Foé collapsed on the field in the 78th minute of the match between Cameroon and Colombia in the Confederations Cup. Although doctors tried to revive him for 52 minutes, they were unsuccessful. An autopsy concluded that the reason for his death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise.
4. Frankie Leal
Mexican boxer Francisco Javier Leal, better known as 'Frankie Leal' , collapsed in his corner on October 19, 2013, after being knocked out in an intense fight against Raúl Hirales. Leal was immediately taken to a hospital in San Diego (USA) but died from a stroke as a result of the blows received to the left side of his head.
5. Phil Joel Hughes
Hughes was an Australian cricketer who made his international debut in 2013. On 25 November 2014, Hughes was hit on the neck with the ball during a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This blow, according to doctors, caused a dissection of the vertebral artery that caused a haemorrhage. The player was taken to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where surgery was performed, during which he went into an induced coma. He was in intensive care in critical condition until November 27, the day he died.
6. Andrej Bauc
Slovenian diver Andrej Bauc died on August 6, 2016, while participating in a competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bauc made a 20-meter jump from a bridge in the city of Zvornik and, after diving into the water, surfaced for a moment asking for help with his arm raised and then sank and disappeared without the rescue services being able to help him. It took divers five days to recover the body of Andrej Bauc, 34, who drowned after fracturing his spine when he crashed into the water.
7. Johnny Owen
The professional boxer from Wales was known as 'The Bionic Rooster'. On September 19, 1980, when he faced Lupe Pintor for the world bantamweight title, he was knocked down 25 seconds into the twelfth round by his rival and lost consciousness. Although they performed surgery on his brain, he fell into a coma and died seven weeks later.
8. Alessio Galletti
The Italian cyclist died on June 15, 2005, due to heart failure, while racing in the 'Subida al Naranco' in Spain. Galletti had previously participated in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.
9. Miklos Feher
On January 25, 2004, Benfica, coached by José Antonio Camacho, played against Vitoria de Guimaraes in a Portuguese League match. There were just a few minutes left when Hungarian Miklos Feher collapsed on the grass. They tried to revive him, but they couldn't apply a defibrillator because of the rain. He was taken to a hospital, where he died from cardiomyopathy, like Foé.
10. Luis Salom
It was June 3, 2016. There were 25 minutes left to conclude the second Moto2 practice session of the Catalunya motorcycle GP. Suddenly, everyone looked up at the monitors. Something had happened in turn 12, precisely the curve that precedes the turn that enters the Montmeló finish line. The 24-year-old Mallorcan rider Luis Salom had lost control of his motorcycle and suffered a serious accident that would cost him his life.
11. Simoncelli
October 23, 2011. The Italian Marco Simoncelli dies after an accident at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, during the MotoGP test. The collision had been devastating. Even for Marco's big body, who was left lying on the asphalt. His helmet had been blown off, it was blown off by the impact of the pilots who couldn't avoid it. Undone, the Gresini pilot was rescued with extreme urgency by an ambulance. It was 4:05 p.m. The clocks stopped. Hearts too.
12. Ayrton Sena
Every motoring fan and especially Formula 1 fan has a day etched in their memory. On May 1, 1994, at 6:05 p.m., even non-engine fans shed a few tears. At that moment, Dr María Teresa Fiandri, head of the resuscitation service at the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, confirmed the death of the Brazilian icon. Then his legend began. Ayrton Senna crashed into the Tamburello curve at exactly 310 km/h.
13. Francis Crippen
He was an American open-water swimmer who died on October 23, 2010, while competing in the Marathon World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.Francis was found unconscious two hours after they noticed he had not finished the race and was taken to a medical centre where he died. The cause of his death was extreme fatigue due to the high temperatures in the water.
14. Fabio Casartelli
On July 18, 1995, Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli suffered an accident during stage 15 of the Tour de France, in which he suffered serious skull and facial injuries. When he was being transported by helicopter to the hospital, Casartelli stopped breathing and died after several resuscitation attempts.
15. Peter Biaksangzuala
Barely 23 years old, midfielder Peter Biaksangzuala of Bethlehem Vengthlang of India, died in a very peculiar way. The footballer celebrated by doing somersaults, but had a fatal fall that caused severe damage to his spine from which he could no longer recover.