The woman who refused to pull the cable of footballer Jean-Pierre Adams 39 years ago

The tragic story of Jean-Pierre Adams has overshadowed his place as one of the most talented defenders ever honored in French football.

Adams, originally from Senegal, was adopted by a French couple who, unlike his parents, “embraced” his love for football.

However, he had to join the French army, at the age of nineteen, so that his talent would be recognized belatedly.

He joins the army football team and simultaneously plays in the amateur Entade, with whom he appeared in second place in the French amateur championship for two consecutive years (1968, 1969), playing – until then – in the position of striker.

At an Entade match in 1969, one of Nimes’ scouts was on the podium as a talented explorer, and the team’s coach at the time, the great Kanter Ferro, reported that there was a player on the field who amazingly stood out from the rest. . Ferro tests him in a friendly match and “sees” in his remarkable athletic qualities a “rock” in the center of the defence. Adams’ dream was just beginning. At 22 years old, an age when others consider him ‘finished’ talent, he will sign his first professional contract with Nîmes and in two years he will find himself from the amateur categories to a starting eleven for the French national team!

In his first season in the big league, Adams was recognized as the best player in Nîmes, who finished in the best position in its history (2) and after 34 years of his inception he was awarded a ticket to European competitions for the first time.

His transformation, overnight, into a center back is proving to be “the key” to his career launch.

One of his opponents at the time, Argentine striker Angel Marcos of Nantes, said: “In Nimes’ defense there is a pillar, an extraordinary athletic power: Jean-Pierre Adams is a typical example of the power of nature.”

Somehow… That’s how the French-African defender made his debut for the French national team in October 72, at the age of 24. His debut coincided with a huge (1-0) victory over the great Soviet Union in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers.

He played two more seasons in Nimes and in the summer of 1973 he was transferred to Nice, where he played for four years. In the 1975-76 season, Nice was a contender for the title, but injuries to several players, including Adams, left them in second place, behind Saint-Etienne. It is the year when serious problems begin with the knees of Adams, who in the summer of ’77 will move to the (almost) newly formed Paris Saint-Germain at the time, having played his last game for the French national team. a few months ago.

Despite being a major figure in Paris for two years, he was released upon the expiration of his contract (1979) as his frailty and ailments limited his appearance, forcing him to miss 35 matches in that time. At the age of 31, no big team risks his acquisition and for the sake of the fun of the game he will play for a while in small Mulhouse, while he will finish his career in the salon.

In 1981 he made the decision to pursue a coaching career and went to Dijon in the first stage to obtain a diploma, through a weekly coaching seminar. On the third day, he again felt discomfort in his long-suffering knee and went to a hospital in Lyon, where doctors recommended surgery to repair the damage to his tendon.

Jean-Pierre made the fateful decision to go to surgery and the appointment was set for March 17, 1982. Although it is a routine operation, his wife, Bernadette, with whom he has shared his life for 23 years and has two sons, has a bad feeling about that “damned” morning. During the operation, she called the hospital three times to find out the news and the third time she was asked to rush to the hospital immediately.

Adams did not wake up. An anesthetic dose error, which the hospital said was caused by an anesthesiologist who oversaw eight other operations at the same time, caused hypoxia in his body and put him in a coma. once and for all. The mind of the former France international defender has not recovered. Bernadette took him to a hospital in the saloon and after the medical staff there also informed her that there was no hope, she escorted her husband to their house. She has since called it “the home of the Sleeping Beauty”, refusing to accept fate.

For a full 39 years, she cared for the uncommunicative Adams every day, expecting that … hope would die. The French Federation gave her 25,000 francs in December 82 and gave her 6,000 francs each week, while several charity matches were organized to raise money to help her. The Paris Saint-Germain doctor “dragged” the Lyon hospital doctors to court and after 7 years they were found guilty of unintentional injuries.

In 2007, Bernadette stated about her beloved in an interview that he “feels, smells, hears, trembles when a dog barks, but does not see.” For 39 years she has always been there: breakfast, lunch, dinner, physical therapy, daily change of clothes (consistent at the time), helping every biological need. “If I don’t take care of him, who will (?),” he would ask the reporters, whom he sometimes let in to see Adams, offering them the usual title “My Love You An Audience!” In 2012 she confirmed that although her husband does not need respiratory support, he is still in a vegetative state. He flatly refused the euthanasia scenario, ignoring the recommendations of relatives and friends. ‘Unimaginable. He can’t even speak and I’ll decide for him’?

In the drama of a woman with the patience and steely will of Jovian, her two sons, 52-year-old Laurent and 45-year-old Frederic, are the props.

The miracle the family had hoped for did not come. On September 6, 2021, Jean-Pierre Adams slept forever, leaving behind, in addition to his two sons, four grandchildren. But above all, an incomparable love story and an “angel” who for four decades has kept not only his soul, but also all those who “deserve” to be associated with it … In the end, the “miracle” was the greatness of Bernadette Adams’ soul.