Six years ago, Abdelhak Nouri was playing a preseason friendly for Ajax. He was considered one of the brightest jewels of the Ajax academy.
However, tragedy occurred on July 8th, 2017, as Nouri collapsed during the game. He was taken to the hospital by a trauma helicopter, and his condition was pronounced stable.
Five days later, Ajax reported that Nouri had suffered severe and permanent brain damage as a direct result of the incident, and was in intensive care. Nouri eventually left intensive care on 25 July 2017, being able to breathe unsupported.
In June 2018, Ajax announced an investigation had found that the medical treatment Nouri received on the field was “inadequate”, which prompted a lawsuit from Nouri’s family against Ajax, who stated a failure to resuscitate him with due haste and thus responsible for causing his brain damage.
Nouri was on coma for 2-years, 9 months. However, he woke up 3 years after the incident, in 2020. There was few medical updates on his condition, but he has returned home with his family since and he’s recovering at home with his loved ones.
Since the incident, Nouri, has received support from former playing mates, footballing bodies and more recently Morocco who dedicated their famous semifinal win over Portugal at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and notwithstanding the just ended CAF U-23 tournament hosted and won by the Moroccans.
Players were seen showing Nouri’s Ajax jersey alongside his brother after triumphing over rivals Egypt.
Nouri’s parents hail from Morocco but was born and raised in Amsterdam and could have featured internationally for Morocco alongside mate Sofyan Amrabat though he represented The Netherlands at the youth stages of his short-lived career, hence the outpour of solidarity from the Moroccan footballing fraternity.