Ex-Arsenal star rushed to hospital after collapsing and spending 10 minutes unconscious
Former Arsenal star Jeff Reine-Adelaide was rushed to hospital after being struck in the face by a ball, with the incident leaving him unconscious for 10 minutes.
Reine-Adelaide was playing for RWD Molenbeek in a game against Charleroi in Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League on Saturday and has now shared a positive update on social media. “Thanks for your messages of support, more fear than evil,” he wrote on his Instagram story.
The winger was hit in the face from point-blank range and collapsed to the floor, where he received treatment from medics before being taken to hospital. Molenbeek boss Yannick Ferrera said after the game that there were concerns Reine-Adelaide may have suffered a brain haemorrhage.
“Jeff was unconscious for about ten minutes,” Ferrera told reporters. “We fear a brain haemorrhage.” The game continued despite Reine-Adelaide needing to go to hospital, with Molenbeek losing 3-1.
Reine-Adelaide spent two years at Arsenal, having joined from French side Lens. He made just eight appearances for the Gunners and returned to France with Angers, where he spent one full season before joining Lyon.
After four years at Lyon, Reine-Adelaide signed for Molenbeek and he has become a key player for the club after bouncing back from some injury problems. “It’s been very good; I am the player that everyone has to search for on the pitch to try to build the game,” he told the Guardian last month.
“It’s very different to when I was at Arsenal because then I was the youngest player and now I’m 26 and I’m one of the players with the most experience in a young team. I played with some big players when I was at Arsenal and I took lots of advice from them.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide in action for Arsenal against Sutton in the FA Cup in 2017
“I became more mature at Lyon and now it’s my time to help the young players. I really like to do it because when you start playing football you can learn so much.” And Reine-Adelaide looks back very fondly on his time at the Emirates.
“Everything was very good – there were lots of French players at Arsenal at the time so I found it very easy to adapt myself to living in London,” he added. “On the pitch, I felt very good because I was playing with such good players every day and trying to learn from them. Per Mertesacker gave me lots of advice, even if on the pitch he used to shout at me!
“Sometimes it’s about timing and maybe mentally I wasn’t ready enough. Not to fight, because I had the hunger inside me – I was there training properly –but they brought in some new players when I was injured and it was hard. But I’m really happy to have had that experience.”
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