Adams family coping despite footballer’s condition.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
KEEPING THE FAITH
ANCILLA ADAMS has had to be a strong mother in the face of trying circumstances. Her son, 22 year-old Trinidad and Tobago defender Akeem Adams, remains under deep anaesthesia after suffering a life-threatening heart attack in September on September 25. The family is making the best of difficult circumstances. The good new is that Akeem hangs on to life.
“We are coping,” Ancilla Adams told the Trinidad Express by telephone from Hungary yesterday. “We have to thank God for wisdom, and that he (Akeem) is holding on.”
Adams is in the clinical intensive care unit of Városmajori Heart Clinic, where he underwent a fourth life-saving surgery on Monday night, but lost his lower left leg.
The T&T footballer was hospitalised after a massive heart attack 15 days ago and initially had three life-saving surgeries, including the fitting of an artificial heart to replace the failed organ. With the permission of his mother, doctors performed a fourth surgery on the ailing “Soca Warrior” to remove his lower- left leg. Akeem developed necrosis in the limb as a resulted of his artificial heart not efficiently getting blood to his extremities.
This surgery prevented the immediate threat to his life and successfully stabilised Adams’s circulation, but his condition is still listed as dangerous and life threatening. He is awaiting a heart transplant once his condition improves.
Both Adams’ mother and his brother Akini have been in Hungary for 12 days, brought there by the Ferencvárosi Torna team, which signed Akeem in August. The family is unable to speak specifically of his medical condition, an agreement with his Hungarian club Ferencvárosi Torna, but appear to be comfortable and said they needed nothing at the moment.
“We need nothing right now. All we need is prayer,” Adams’ mother said. “Every day we have to go to the hospital....he needs our support.”
Likewise, Point Fortin Civic FC reserve goalkeeper Akini said: “We coping. We coping.”
Adams mother recalled the horror moment when she found out that he son had fallen ill.
“It was a shock,” Ancilla Adams declared. “But when things like this happen you have to keep faith in God. I have to thank God that I know God because he knows why this happened. We don’t know. We can’t understand.”
In related news, the Hungarian newspaper Blikk reports that Hungarian medical experts predict that defender Akeem faces an additional risk of contracting pneumonia as a result of induced deep anesthesia. Dr. Stephen Kóczán was quoted as saying: “The maintenance of artificial circulation can cause a problem, but the biggest problem is that the long-range deep anesthesia may result in pneumonia.”
“It is certain that the circulation in the limb did not work,” a cardiologist told this newspaper.” It is conceivable that in the femoral artery zárodott (sic), there came no fresh blood in the leg. It is also possible that the artery has worked, but the thinner the blood capillaries has not been delivered.
A third possibility is that the varicose veins brought to the service. In either there was decay in the legs due to lack of oxygen bacteria, toxins in production of this blood poisoning, and led to the death of limbs.”
However, cardiologist Dr. Andrew Papp, who is in charge of the footballer at the Városmajori clinic said that Akeem’s condition is under constant observation.
“The intensive care unit monitor your vital organs functioning 24 hours a day,” Papp said. “They need to respond to small changes, but certainly not (necessarily) in all cases serious intervention (is required). The key is to avoid potential further complications before transplantation.”
