Chinese footballer Guo Jiaxuan has been been diagnosed with ‘brain death’ following an accident at a training camp in Spain.
The 18-year-old was struck in the head by the knee of an opposition player while playing in a training match against Spanish side RC Alcobendas at a tournament organised by the Beijing Football Association.
Guo had become part of Bayern Munich’s World Squad, an international project by the German club aimed at developing promising players from across the globe.
The defender had also represented China at Under-17 level and looked set for a promising professional before tragedy struck.
Guo suffered subarachnoid haemorrhage which is an uncommon type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain.
He was rushed from the training match against RC Alcobendas – near Madrid, Spain – to a hospital.
His brother said: ‘I learned that the doctor at the hospital said my brother had too much bleeding in his head. And that there was little hope of survival.
‘The hospital was going to remove his tubes.’
A doctor delivered the family the crushing news that Guo no longer had any brain functions following the injury last Thursday.
After arriving in Spain on Saturday, his father was told that medics proposed switching off his life support.
All parties reportedly accepted this outcome unless he could be flown back to China by Wednesday (12 Feb) for further life support.
Guo played for the academy of Beijing Guoan, whose senior team came fourth in the Chinese Super League last season.
It’s reported that if Guo is repatriated, both the BFA and his family will have to cover his treatment costs, much to the latter’s frustration.
‘The commitment we signed said that they were only responsible for the cost of treatment in Spain and the transfer back to China,’ Guo’s father is quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.
‘And [they] said that after we return to China, the cost of treatment should be paid by both [family and BFA].
‘They have a team of professional lawyers. We are just ordinary people, and you can see how difficult it will be to fight a legal battle.’
