It was March when the lights went off

For Bernadette, it must have been awful. The last time she heard his voice, he was still 34. This March, he turned 73. And she has never left his bed, nor missed a day to wash him, talk to him, explain to him how this March looks like. Is it maybe warmer than that year, 1982, when Jean-Pierre was still a happy man, eager to continue his one-of-a-kind football career as a coach.

The former French international of Senegalese origins enjoyed successful years in several top division sides, including Paris Saint-Germain, which earned him a decent 22 caps for Les Blues. With Marius Tresor, he was a key defensive force in the French national slot in the mid-70s. Who knows what could have happened if it wasn't for those weak knees which prevented him from reaching the very heights of the game. For those knees, which forced him to undergo a fatal surgery on 17 March 1982. From which he'll never return. Or at least, not as a man he used to be.

Adams (standing, the second from the left) against USSR in 1972 (@Aimé Dartus/Ina/Ina via AFP)

Instead of becoming maybe the first coach of African origins who won the EURO or World Cup as a tactician, Jean-Pierre Adams, born in 1948 in Dakar, will forever be remembered for the decades-long coma that turned him overnight into a plant. Without a per cent of a chance to overwhelm that taunted shadow that has laid on his life ever since.

His wife Bernadette is firm in her attitude that euthanasia is not a solution. Especially not after she presented him with his grandchildren a few years ago, although it's a probable chance he doesn't even remember his sons Lauren and Frederic, 13 and 6, at the moment of disaster. After an error made by his anaesthetist, Jean-Pierre suffered bronchospasm, which starved his brain of oxygen, and he slipped into a coma. Bernadette remained by his bedside for five days and five nights, hoping for a change.

Nothing has changed up to this day.

"It's unthinkable!" she said asked about a possible euthanasia a couple of years ago. "He cannot speak. And it's not for me to decide for him.

"Jean-Pierre feels, smells, hears, jumps when a dog barks. But he cannot see.

"I have the feeling that time stopped on 17 March 1982. There are no changes, either good or bad. While he does not need respiratory assistance, he remains in a vegetative state. We met a neurologist specialising in brain injury from Carémeau [the hospital in Nîmes] through an acquaintance. He ran his tests and examinations at the hospital, which confirmed very significant damage. There was a lot of damage to the brain. But he does not age, but for a few white hairs."

Bernadette had a house custom-built, which she named Mas du bel athléte dormant - the House of the Beautiful Sleeping Athlete. Due to severe financial difficulties, however, she needed a lot of help to overcome the problems. That's where the many former French stars emerged as saviours. The Variétés Club de France, a charitable organisation, backed by Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Jean-Pierre Papin, played a fixture in the comatose player's honour against a group of his footballing friends.

Jean-Pierre Adams was the first player coming from sub-Saharan Africa capped for France. He paved the road for dozens of outstanding names such as Marseille Desaily, Lilian Thuram, Patrick Viera and others. Unfortunately, he was never given a chance to enjoy the results of his trail-blazing legacy that inspired millions of young boys. A true injustice.

That almost doubles every March. And it has been 39 of them since.

By: BOJAN BABIĆ