Diego Maradona
Investigations into his death are ongoing
Diego Maradona's last hours are to be reconstructed.
© Andrew Makedonski / shutterstock.com
The death of Diego Maradona continues to hit the headlines. Investigations should reconstruct his last hours.
The Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona (1960-2020) died last Wednesday (November 25th) at the age of 60. According to a preliminary autopsy report, he died of "acute pulmonary edema and exacerbated chronic heart failure" in his home in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. Argentine prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of the late football icon to find out whether negligence played a role in his death and to clarify the circumstances of the last few hours of his life. The first results of the investigation have already been announced.
Diego Maradona has been monitored around the clock since his brain surgery. The night shift nurse said she walked into the room at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday and saw Maradona resting and "breathing," the local Télam news agency reported. According to the public prosecutor's office, the nurse responsible at the time of death last heard at 7:30 am how Maradona "was moving in the room". Initially it was assumed that his nephew Johnny Herrera, who visited him on Tuesday evening at 11.30 p.m., would last see him alive.
At 11:30 a.m., a psychiatrist and a psychologist who visited Maradona regularly were said to have entered the house and found that he was no longer responding. Those present initiated resuscitation measures. At 12:16 p.m., his doctor and a few minutes later his personal assistant are said to have made an emergency call. About ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived in front of the house. The rescue workers are said to have confirmed Maradona's death around 1 p.m.
Could one have prevented his death?
According to Télam, the home and practice of Maradona's personal doctor Leopoldo Luque were raided on Sunday (November 29). In addition, investigations into "negligent homicide" have been started against the doctor. The testimony of Maradona's three daughters Jana, Giannina and Dalma were decisive for this investigation. They had therefore expressed their doubts as to whether the 60-year-old ex-footballer had been treated correctly by Luque in the past few months and after his surgery.
Luque confirmed the searches on Sunday in a press conference. He is cooperating with the public prosecutor's office, which has confiscated medical documents on Maradona and electronic devices, the doctor said. With tears in his eyes, he emphasized that he had nothing to blame. "I'm proud of everything I've done for Diego." He was like a father to him.
Maradona's lawyer Matias Morla had previously made serious allegations against the paramedics who were called for help. The ambulance was more than half an hour in coming. Maradona's former doctor Alfredo Cahe, however, accused Maradona's family on Argentine TV. He should have stayed in the hospital after the brain operation. Contrary to the advice of the clinic, he was brought home, although the risks were known.