Argentina was rocked by the news of one of the death of one of their young footballers today.
Emanuel Ortega, 21, died tragically on Thursday after sustaining a fatal head injury during a fifth-tier match in the Argentinian leagues.
Ortega was playing for San Martín de Burzaco when he lost his balance challenging for a ball and crashed head first into a concrete wall that separated the crowd from the field.
Ortega received immediate medical treatment on the pitch and was rushed to hospital, where it was discovered he suffered a double skull fracture. After spending 10 days in hospital and undergoing emergency surgery on his skull, he passed away early on Thursday morning.
A heart-wrenching Facebook status update from Ortega has emerged, written back in 2012, which he appeared to foretell his own death.
Tremendo esto. #EmanuelOrtega QEPD pic.twitter.com/zl1cvKNnpY
— Maru ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@marinabutron) May 14, 2015
The English translation of the post is as follows:
“Perhaps I won’t ever play football professionally,” he wrote. “Maybe I will, or maybe as an amateur, but when I go for each ball I am going to die, when my legs say STOP, my heart says CONTINUE.
“The difference between me and professionals is that when my boots break, I don’t change them, I spent all night tidying them up and gluing them back together so I can play again because it is what I love.
“Football is my LIFE, not only a past-time, it is what makes me forget everything else, and I will give my life for it.
“The day that I can’t play anymore, that is where my life ends.”
Chilling.
Hat-tip to the Mirror
