Soccer player hospitalized with severe burns after Crans-Montana fire
The 19-year-old French defender Tahirys Dos Santos has been transferred to a specialist hospital in Germany. “He will need surgery, possibly a transplant.” His girlfriend is seriously injured.
Tahirys Moussa Dos Santos, a 19-year-old defender with French soccer player Metz, was in the idyllic ski resort of Crans-Montana on the night of December 31. After a New Year’s Eve dinner at friends’ house, he went to the Le Constellation bar, where a deadly fire broke out. So far it is thought that around 40 people died and 115 others were injured in the blaze. The players’ agent, Christophe Hutteau, provided the first details about the young Metz player, who has since been transferred to a burn unit in Germany.
“I haven’t been able to speak with Tahirys. He couldn’t express himself. I spoke with his parents throughout the day and they kept me informed about his condition. This morning, around 6:30, they were notified of what had happened and of Tahirys’s state. They immediately left Lorraine for Sion, where he was hospitalized. In the afternoon, he was transferred to Stuttgart, to a hospital equipped to treat severe burns,” Hutteau explained.
Soccer player badly injured in Crans-Montana blaze
“The most positive news is that, contrary to what doctors had anticipated this morning, he was not placed on a ventilator, meaning he has recovered enough lung capacity not to require life support. It is far too early to make a diagnosis. Given that he has been transferred to a burn unit, it is easy to imagine the physical condition Tahirys is in.”
The French player was not alone at the time of the tragedy. “He was not on the ground floor of the nightclub, but on the first floor. Even so, he had great difficulty getting out of the venue. His girlfriend and friends also struggled. The first thing he asked doctors when he regained consciousness was, ‘Where are my friends?’ His girlfriend is also seriously injured and hospitalized.”
Crans-Montana tragedy
The agent called for respect and caution during these difficult moments and thanked both Metz and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support. “It is possible that he will need surgery tonight, possibly a transplant. It is still far too early to know what will happen next. When you see a young man struck by a tragedy like this, you ask yourself, ‘Why him?’ It is too soon. I hope his dream is not cut short. But the footballing side is not what matters right now. What matters is that he regains his physical and mental well-being. Beyond the physical suffering, there is real psychological pain. He lived through the tragedy,” he concluded.
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