Heart attack kills Espanyol star
Sunday, August 9, 2009 @ 5:34 PM
ESPANYOL captain Daniel Jarque has collapsed and died at the club's pre-season training camp in Italy.
Jarque, 26, collapsed at the team's hotel in Coverciano, Italy and was rushed to the local hospital after his heart stopped beating. Despite the efforts of club doctors and Italian paramedics, he was pronounced dead late on Saturday evening.
Espanyol had been due to play Bolgona today but the game has been cancelled.
A statement the Spanish club said: "Misfortune has befallen Espanyol and the family of Dani Jarque this evening.
"The doctor carried out CPR on the player and used a defibrillator, which showed that the arrest was non-responsive.
"After a few minutes, the first ambulance arrived from the Florence emergency services, who tried again with the defibrillator they carried.
"The medical services continued carrying out CPR, administering adrenaline and atropine for an hour.
"But the player's heart did not react, so finally that determined his death."
Jarque was at the hotel, talking on the phone to his fiancee who is eight months pregnant. But suddenly the midfielder stopped speaking.
She alerted a couple of his team-mates and they found him collapsed in his room.
Jarque had spent his entire career with spanyol having joined the club when he was 12.
He made his full debut in 2002 and was a part of the 2006 team that won the Copa del Rey in 2006.
Club president Daniel Sanchez Llibre said: "I find it very hard to believe these things happen.
"Jarque was a great person and a great professional. He was very happy because he was about to become a father.
"He loved Espanyol and was very excited with the new stadium and [his recent appointment to] the captaincy."
Source: The Sun