Juan Francisco L.M. had not planned to play in the match that his team, Baloncesto Equilibrio, were due to play against Puerta Oscura ... Bar Cleopatra in the senior league of the municipal sports games on 3 October. The match coincided with Unicaja's first home fixture against Tenerife at the Carpena and Juan is a loyal supporter of the Unicaja team.
However, his teammates persuaded him to take part, as they did not have enough players for the match in the El Palo district. A few hours later, at around 8pm, his father received a call from the team captain informing him that his son was in a serious condition, with his head literally split open after suffering a heavy foul during the match. Juan Francisco L.M. was in hospital.
That was when the nightmare began for Juan Francisco and his family. The young man spent six days in the ICU. He is now recovering at home, although with 50 staples running from one end of his head to the other.
The serious incident occurred at the end of the match, with his team trailing by seven points. Juan Francisco was about to drive to the basket in a routine play. While in the air, he was pushed hard by an opposing player, M.N.S., which completely knocked him off balance.
Juan Francisco fell backwards, hitting his head very hard. His opponent's actions are strictly banned in basketball, both by the rules and by the unwritten code among players.
The prompt attention Juan Francisco received from a vet and a nurse in the moments immediately following the impact was crucial, according to some of the victim's teammates. "It was done with malicious intent," said one of Juan Francisco's teammates.
As a result of the impact, the young man's skull was crushed by more than one centimetre and he had to undergo emergency surgery at Hospital Regional to reconstruct the damaged area. At the time, it remained unclear whether he had suffered any brain damage.
Juan Francisco was unconscious for three days, which felt like an eternity for his family, until he finally woke up. Fortunately, he had no serious brain damage.
The medical report details a series of injuries more typical of a motorbike accident than of an injury sustained during a basketball match: a right parietal multifragmentary fracture with intracranial depression of approximately 12 millimetres, an extra-axial collection consistent with a possible epidural haematoma, a left frontal subdural haematoma, cerebral contusions, subarachnoid haemorrhages and haemorrhagic foci requiring ongoing assessment for possible diffuse axonal injury.
As is customary in such situations, the hospital issued an injury report which was forwarded to the police, who will now have to follow the standard procedure in such cases. The family's solicitor and several eyewitnesses will appear to confirm the facts, as Sur has learnt.
Doctors have advised Juan Francisco to take complete rest, so he will have to take a break from the dual degree in Engineering he is studying at the UMA.
Interestingly, university officials initially thought this was a repeat of a previous incident, as another student had broken several vertebrae on almost the same date while attempting a slam dunk on one of the UMA's courts.
Juan Francisco L. M. wants to get back to his normal life, focusing on his studies and his passion for Unicaja. He only missed one match last season, which gives an idea of just how keen he is on basketball. For now, he prefers not to dwell on what happened at the José Paterna sports hall in El Palo.