Ajax midfielder communicating after waking from coma nearly three years on from collapse

THE FAMILY OF Dutch football Abdelhak Nouri say he is communicating by raising his eyebrows after waking from a coma.

The Ajax midfielder suffered ‘severe and permanent’ brain damage due to a cardiac arrhythmia in July 2017, which occurred during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen.

Nouri, now 22, has since been in an induced coma, but his brother Abderrahim has offered some good news nearly three years on from the incident.

“It’s going well with Appie, but what is good?,” Abderrahim told Dutch TV show ‘The World Keeps Turning’, as reported by Sky Sports. “He’s awake, he sleeps, he eats, he burps but he doesn’t get out of bed.

“In good moments there is a form of communication where he moves his eyebrows but he can’t keep it up for long.”

Ajax fans hold up a banner to pay tribute to Nouri.

Source: Mike Egerton

“Appie is aware of where he is. It’s good for him to be in a familiar environment with his family.

“We talk to him and watch football with him – he likes that. Sometimes it gets very emotional but often there’s a smile. That’s good for us.”