A
Nigerian player, Henry Chinonso Ihelewere, has died after suffering a
cardiac arrest during a friendly match between Romanian second division
teams CS Delta Tulcea and FC Balotesti on Sunday.
Delta’s Ihelewere, 21, collapsed with no-one around
him only 15 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. The
game was played in the town of Baltoesti, north of Bucharest.
He was taken to hospital but he never regained
consciousness. The striker had been playing in Romania since 2007 when
he joined Farul Constanta. He later moved to Tulcea in 2010.
Report said the player was given CPR for over an hour
but never regained consciousness. Doctor John Tanase reported that his
heart had stopped and CPR was carried out from 12.05 until 13.12.
Ambulances arrived 3 minutes after being called. Bogdan Oprita, head of
the local ambulance service, told national news agency Agerpres that the FC Tulcea player’s cause of death would be determined by an autopsy.
Ihelewere’s death added to a list of Nigerian players
who have died in similar circumstances. In 2011, Bobsam Elejiko of
fifth-tier Belgian club, Merksem, collapsed and died during a match
against FC Kaart.
On August 12 1989, Samuel Okwaraji, died at the
National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, during a World Cup qualifying match
between Nigeria and Angola. Six years later, Amir Angwe, 29, joined the
list. He died while playing for Julius Berger against Maxaquene of
Mozambique in CAF competition at the Onikan Stadium. Doctors blamed
cardiac arrest for his death.
On March 6, 2010, former Berger player, Endurance
Idahor, collapsed while starring for Al-Merreikh and died on his way to
the hospital in Sudan. He was until his death Al-Merreikh’s leading
striker with 46 goals in 62 matches.
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