Jean-Pierre Adams is a France international who played as a centre-back. He played for OGC Nice and Paris Saint-Germain. He suffered a ligament rupture injury and was hospitalised for surgery on 17 March 1982 at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon.
But his anaesthetist made an error, and he suffered bronchospasm, which starved his brain of oxygen, and he slipped into a coma. He is still tragically in a coma to this day, aged 73 years.
Later, a court of law adjudicated on the case, and both the anaesthetist and trainee were given one-month suspended sentences and fines that translated to an $815 fine. His wife, Bernadette, refused to consider euthanasia and continued to tend to his needs.
Bernadette told CNN, last year: “No one ever forgets to give Jean-Pierre presents, whether it’s his birthday, Christmas or Father’s Day.”
“We buy presents like a T-shirt or a jumper because I dress him in his bed – he changes clothes every day.”
“I’ll buy things so that he can have a nice room, such as pretty sheets or some scent. He used to wear Paco Rabanne, but his favourite one stopped, so now I buy Sauvage by Dior. He senses that it is not me feeding him and looking after him. It’s the nurses who tell me, saying he is not the same. I think he feels things. He must recognize the sound of my voice, as well.”
