SPAIN: SOCCER/FOOTBALL: Sevilla's Puerta remains in critical condition

Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta is still in a critical condition after collapsing and losing consciousness during his side's Primera Liga match against Getafe on Saturday (August 25). He was rushed to Sevilla's Virgen del Rocio hospital in Seville and has remained there for three days. Doctor Calderon Osuna told reporters on Monday (August 27) that Puerta's situation is still worrying as a result of the serious consequences of the cardiac arrest, which may include some effects on the brain. "He remains in the intensive care unit under observation and connected to a ventilator and under hemodynamic instability," the doctor said. The team treating Puerta say that when a patient is in a critical state there is always a risk. They explain that after a cardiac arrest as prolonged as this it is too early to give a prognosis or to venture possible after-effects. The 22-year-old Spanish international collapsed after jogging back towards his own goal 35 minutes into the game at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Team mates and medical staff rushed to his side and were seen preventing him from swallowing his tongue as he lost consciousness. He was able to walk from the pitch but doctors said that he collapsed again in the changing rooms and had to be given cardiac resuscitation before being taken to hospital.

ITN Source | August 28, 2007

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