A year since his collapse, Ajax star Appie Nouri finally regains consciousness

The midfielder is wide awake and interacting with his family.

Abdelhak “Appie” Nouri, the Ajax player who became a household name in the streets of Amsterdam was in the news for collapsing during the first pre-season game against Werder Bremen in the 2017-18 season.

Nouri, who collapsed during the pre-season friendly, suffered a cardiac arrhythmia and was airlifted to the hospital. It left him with severe and permanent brain damage. But, now according to his brother, Nouri is communicating with movement of his mouth and eyebrows and his neurological condition is much improved , compared to some months ago.

 

Namens de familie Nouri kan Ajax melden dat Abdelhak van de intensive care af is. Hij wordt momenteel verzorgd op een afdeling die in ziekenhuistermen 'medium care' heet. De 20-jarige middenvelder wordt al enige tijd niet meer medisch in slaap gehouden. Ook heeft hij inmiddels volledig zelfstandig functionerende ademhaling. Verder is zijn situatie onveranderd ten opzichte van de vorige update, dus stabiel maar met ernstige en blijvende hersenschade. De familie Nouri bedankt nogmaals iedereen die op enigerlei wijze betrokkenheid heeft getoond en steun heeft gegeven en vraagt tot slot aan een ieder om door te gaan met de smeekgebeden voor Abdelhak. #StayStrongAppie ❤️

A post shared by AFC Ajax (@afcajax) on Jul 25, 2017 at 6:34am PDT

The social media announcement of his injury by the club

Born and brought up in Amsterdam, the player of Moroccan descent signed for Ajax in 2005 as a 9-year-old with the dream of representing the first-team. The young midfielder broke into the first-team in September 2016, making his debut in a Cup game for the Eredivisie side. 

He went on to make nine first-team appearances for the team in the 2016/17 season after gaining promotion to the first-team.

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Speaking to NOS, Abderrahim Nouri said, "If I compare it to before, it is much better at the moment and his neurological status is better than months ago.

"Physically it's hard, there's a decline, that's just because he does not move, he's bedridden, he can not move his body on his own, just his head.

"...In the beginning, it was not like that, when he was really in a coma, he had his eyes closed, but he woke up more and more, since December, January, his consciousness has improved and since then there has been a form of communication. You ask him things, for example 'open your mouth' or 'confirm this with your eyebrow', he does that, so there is a kind of communication now."

Some good news about Abdelhak Nouri tonight. His brother has said that his "Neurological status is better than months ago. "He added that there is communication using movement of his mouth and eyebrows" #staystrongappie pic.twitter.com/4KL5vlf0u2

— Dutch Football (@FootballOranje_) August 18, 2018

Club supporters and fans have showered their prayers for him and his family through the internet.