Last Saturday football experienced a tragedy with the death of Raphael Dwamena. The 28-year-old Ghanaian footballer, who developed his career in Albania after passing through the ranks of Levante and Real Zaragoza, among others, was struck down in the duel between his team, Egnatia, against Partizani.
In the middle of the match, the player collapsed on the grass and the emergency services could do nothing to revive him. His death was confirmed a few minutes later. Fatal news that Antonio Asso, who was his cardiologist during his stay in La Romareda, always feared could happen.
Asso, a doctor from the Cardiology Service of the Miguel Servet hospital and the Quirónsalud Arrhythmia Institute, both located in Zaragoza, has shared an open letter for the Heraldo de Aragón. Asso advised the African striker to put an end to his sporting career and, upon learning of his refusal to retire, forced him to put on a defibrillator to preserve his life. This is how he explains it: “We managed to convince him of the urgent need to implant a defibrillator to at least guarantee his life, at the same time that we advised against practicing professional sports. I insisted that as the disease progressed, at some point we could address the origin of the arrhythmia through some ablation intervention, but that required him to be kept alive, and for this the defibrillator was essential.”
“I was determined to pursue his professional career above all else and I ended up losing hope of influencing him.” As a result of the footballer not paying attention to his recommendations, both ended up losing contact. “A couple of years ago, they told me that the defibrillator had saved his life when he had a malignant arrhythmia that had been correctly treated automatically by the device. We had subsequently lost contact. A year ago I learned from the press that he had requested the removal of the defibrillator implanted by us and that it had finally been explanted (I think in Switzerland). It was already late, his decision was irrevocable and he placed all the responsibility on himself and on the will of the God in which he believed. From that moment I was aware that one day the tragedy that occurred on Saturday on a soccer field in Albania would happen,” explained the doctor.
The decision to cling to divine will and his desire to play football to the last consequences were decisive for the fatal outcome of Dwamena's life. “He died as a result of a respectable personal decision, but if the defibrillator had not been explanted, Raphael would still be alive. Year after year, technological advances put new tools in our hands to better treat the serious arrhythmic problems he suffered from, and it is possible to speculate - for the believer - that these techniques are served by the same God in whom Dwamena firmly believed. It is the end of a sad and predictable story. Sometimes the news is confusing, and it is worth clarifying for the thousands of patients who carry a defibrillator and trust in the safety it provides, that it is not someone who was wearing a defibrillator that has died, but rather someone who was NOT wearing one,” explained Asso.
