A football referee hailed as a hero for providing potentially life-saving first aid to a young Adelaide United player who appeared to be choking on his tongue has recounted the moments he desperately cleared the teenager’s airway.
Key points:
- On-field incident involving Adelaide United’s Nestory Irankunda caused scenes of panic
- Referee and cardiac expert Christian Verdicchio rushed to his aid and recounted the moments he cleared Irankunda’s airway.
- Irankunda will miss his team’s next Australian Cup match, but he is ‘100%’ according to the Reds
The alarming on-field incident involving 17-year-old Nestory Irankunda occurred late in the Reds’ National League side’s 2-1 win over Campbelltown City in the National Premier League, and immediately caused scenes of panic.
Irankunda, who also plays for the senior team, was in possession of the ball when he threw it to a teammate, then fell dramatically to the ground, hitting his head on the turf before grabbing his face.
Video of the incident captures the sound of the crowd screaming, with one commentator noting that “players immediately ran to his aid.”
Luckily for the teenager, the match referee, Christian Verdicchio is a renowned cardiovascular expert, with a doctorate in medicine from the University of Adelaide.
“He landed with his head straight into the ground and then sort of turned around and landed on the ground,” Dr Verdicchio told ABC Radio Adelaide’s Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz.
Referee Christian Verdicchio is also an experienced doctor and cardiologist. (Provided:)
“I was only a few feet away and… as the game continued, I stopped where I was and continued to check on him because something was wrong.
“He was kind of out of breath and some air and I just put the whistle to my mouth to stop the game and ran over to him to help him.“
Dr Verdicchio, who has been widely praised and branded a “hero” by social media users for his quick thinking, said a Campbelltown player also rushed to help.
“Before you knew it, they were saying, ‘You have to get in his mouth,'” he said.
“That’s when the reaction was to grab him, turn him around and open his mouth.
“We both went in his mouth and pulled his tongue out.”
As the players milled about, a stretcher was requested – but Irankunda managed to get back to his feet and then limped off the ground.
The incident caused scenes of panic, with players gathering around Irankunda as he lay on the pitch. (NPL TV)
“In my position, which is obviously treating cardiac patients, we have to be prepared, trained and maintain our CPR, first aid and many other things as well,” Dr. Verdicchio said.
“It all happened very quickly.”
The Reds confirmed Irankunda would miss the senior team’s next match against Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian Cup due to a head knock, but said his omission was a precaution and the young midfielder was “100 per cent” fine.
“At the time it seemed a little confrontational,” coach Carl Veart said.
“There was no concussion for him, and… the hardest thing for Nestory right now is that he had to miss practice for a few days.
“Because his head hit the ground, with his age and that, we have to be very careful with young players so we just give him time to recover.”
Irankunda is something of a rising star and has already been called up to the Socceroos squad and is linked with Bayern Munich. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
But Veart played down Friday night’s incident, saying Irankunda was surprised by how it unfolded.
“Even when he was sitting on the ground, he was in complete control,” Veart said.
“Then things escalated from there, when people started running.
“He doesn’t understand why someone was trying to put their fingers in his mouth because he wasn’t struggling.”
