PSG’s Sergio Rico keen to return to playing after 22 days in a coma
After overcoming his accident, the PSG goalkeeper reveals that his intention is to return to first team action before the season ends.
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Sergio Rico granted his first official, personal interview to the club’s media department this weekend - his first public comments since he was discharged from intensive care last month.
The Spanish goalkeeper revealed that his main objective is to play again before the end of the 2023-24 season. The former Sevilla player will undergo new medical tests this week to evaluate his condition. He underwent surgery at the beginning of August to treat a brain aneurysm after suffering an accident with a horse at the end of May and spent 22 days in a medically-induced coma. He was finally discharged from the Virgen del Rocío hospital in Seville on 18 August.
The 30-year-old has yet to receive the medical all-clear and until that happens he won’t be able to return to the field of play. He hopes that his current situation will only be temporary. “To tell the truth, I feel really good. Thank God the recovery process is going quite well, although I am not medically discharged yet, in the end, they decided to send us home so that I can do the first part of the recovery there. I am very happy to be able to continue my rehabilitation here with my family, [wife] Alba and my friends. Little by little I’m improving more every day, I’m feeling better, I’m feeling stronger,” he said.
Doubts about whether he would play again
He added that much of what happened to him is a blur: “I don’t remember the moment of the accident. I don’t remember the first part in which I was in the hospital in an induced coma, I was asleep. My first thought when I woke up was football. I didn’t have any problems with my head or my memory. I remembered all my family, my wife and my friends. Being in a motorized hospital room with all the screens and with the IV in your arm... the first thing you think about is whether you will be able to play football again. And that’s what I asked the doctor.
“My whole life revolves around football and it would make no sense to think about anything else. It’s the only thing I’ve dedicated my entire life to. So my thought has always been to return. Let’s hope that everything is good news and the doctor gives me the freedom to do some sports and get in shape so I can return to the team, which is in the end what I want and my goal. I aim to come back before the season ends,” he explained.
Hopefully we will see Sergio at Parc des Princes soon: “I look forward to returning to Paris, returning to my team mates and being together as soon as I am fully discharged from the hospital. My idea is to do the last phase of recovery fully and return to the team to enjoy what we like most, which is football. I get excited when I see the messages of support from the team, from the president, from Luis Campos... even from the kit men. I am lucky to belong to this family,” he concluded.