The historic victory of the Spanish Football team over Costa Rica, in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, to Jordi Sabaté. The Spanish footballer Aymeric Laporte dedicated thJordi for he is a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a well-known fighter against euthanasia.
Spain defeated Costa Rica on 23 November by 7 goals to nil on the fourth day of the World Cup. The Spanish team obtained a similar result never before in history.
Two days earlier, Jordi Sabaté, 38, sent a video message to the players and coaching staff of the Spanish team through their social networks, asking them “to fight as much in this World Cup as I have done all these years to stay alive.”. That would make me stratospherically happy.”
“In the previous World Cup in 2018, I thought that I would not see this World Cup in Qatar, since it would probably be dead,” recalled Sabaté.
“I’ve had ALS for 8 years now, and by statistics I should already be dead, but I’m still here,” he added.
Jordi assured the players and the coaching staff of Spain that “you cannot even imagine the immense joy of being alive and being able to see this World Cup, and being able to support the team that I carry in my heart, the Spanish team, that is, you ”.
“I fully trust each one of you and I know that you will give your skin in each game and that you will fight until the end,” he said.
In his response video, Aymeric Laporte assured Jordi that “I kept you in mind throughout the game. Before, after the game too”.
“This victory goes to you. I at least dedicate it to you. You are an example for many people,” the footballer told him.
Laporte indicated that the disease that Sabaté suffers from “is not an easy situation”, and conveyed to him “all our support, all my love and all my strength to continue forward”.
According to MedlinePlus, an information service of the US National Library of Medicine, ALS “is a disease of the neurons in the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord that control the movement of voluntary muscles.”
“One in 10 cases of ALS is due to a genetic defect. The cause is unknown in most of the rest of the cases”, adds MedlinePlus.
The motor neurons, explains the service of the National Library of Medicine of the United States, “wear out or die and can no longer send messages to the muscles”, so that progressively the person cannot move the body.
“The condition slowly worsens. When the muscles in the chest area stop working, it becomes difficult or impossible to breathe,” notes MedlinaPlus, noting that “ALS affects approximately 5 in 100,000 people worldwide.”
Jordi has been a courageous advocate for those with ALS who do not want to be pushed into euthanasia.
Jordi has been a clear opponent of euthanasia, and has defended that “the vast majority of patients want to live, but due to lack of resources and hope they are forced to die.”