“Big compliment for doctors”
Goalkeeper revived: first division game abandoned
October 1, 2023, 8:16 a.m
The game between RKC Waalwijk and Ajax Amsterdam was canceled shortly before the end. Waalwijk keeper Etienne Vaessen is revived after a collision and taken to hospital. The Dutch first division football team is at least giving the cautious all-clear.
Shortly after midnight, the RKC Waalwijk issued the first, at least small, all-clear: “We can announce that after a comprehensive medical examination he is conscious and has been taken to the hospital for further examination. We wish Etienne a lot of strength and hope to see him again soon with us.” It’s about Etienne Vaessen, the goalkeeper of the Dutch first division team, who was suddenly revived with chest compressions in the middle of his penalty area in the final phase of the game against Ajax Amsterdam.
RKC director Frank van Mosselveld said in the ESPN interview: “I would like to pay a big compliment to the doctors. They immediately resuscitated him because he was unresponsive and unresponsive. That’s the medical protocol.”
This is also shown by the dramatic images from the Mandemakers Stadium, where Waalwijk’s 2-3 deficit in the 84th minute became an absolute triviality. Because goalkeeper Vaessen was unconscious and motionless on the ground. Players from both teams immediately signaled that the 28-year-old needed help, supervisors stormed onto the field, and referee Pol van Boekel interrupted the game. During a defensive action, he was accidentally hit in the head by Ajax striker Brian Brobbey and collapsed.
“This is about more than football”
Photos of the action show that Brobbey’s right foot and Vaessen’s head collide. Then the goalkeeper lies on his side, is turned onto his back, a supervisor who rushes over calls for help and puts his hands on his chest. Van Mosselveld clarified afterwards: “Fortunately, as it looks now, it had nothing to do with the heart. It had to do with the blow he suffered on the side of the head. That caused him to faint.” The RKC director also said that Vaessen had no memory of the incident at all.
During treatment, the football players from both teams formed a visual barrier around the seriously injured man. In conjunction with a variety of blankets, they shielded the 28-year-old from overly curious looks, which brought back memories of Christian Eriksen’s collapse at the 2021 European Championship. The Danish national player is now back on the field thanks to immediate professional treatment and after lengthy rehabilitation.
Vaessen, however, was brought off the field on a stretcher a short time later and is said to have been conscious and responsive again. Some of the Amsterdam and Waalwijk professionals had previously burst into tears, they hugged each other for comfort, and some prayed. “This is about more than football,” Ajax said after the game was stopped by the referee a short time later: “We pray that you are well, Etienne.”