Rigobert Song is NOT dead, despite reports that he had passed away coming out of Cameroon that he passed away this week. The former Liverpool and West Ham defender was taken seriously ill on Sunday when he slipped into a coma in his home country.
He was taken to Yaounde Central Hospital in Cameroon after he fell unconscious. He was in a coma for two days before he was transferred to a hospital in France for further treatment. He was seen waving at fans outside the Yaounde facility as he was taken to the airport for the journey to France.
Yaounde Emergency Centre director Dr. Louis Joss Bitang A Mafok said the 40-year-old had suffered a “cerebral hemorrhage”. Cameroon Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda told the press:
“Song has departed to Pitie Salpetriere hospital in Paris, where he will continue treatment. I am grateful to the Head of State for instructing the government to take the necessary measures to ensure that Song recovers.”
“We hail the professionalism of medical doctors in Cameroon and we continue to pray for a safe trip for Rigobert Song and that he should recover very fast.”
On Tuesday, Dr Mafok said Song had “come out of his coma and the oxygen has been disconnected”. He added:
“His high blood pressure has returned to normal and the cerebral haemorrhage has been controlled”.
But on Friday, word started to spread on social media that Song had died. It appears to have been started by a report on the website African News Today, which claimed he had passed away in France after suffering a stroke. The site even quoted his ‘brother’ Alex Song as saying:
“Our beloved passed on this morning. At this moment the family is bereaved.”
Of course, Alex Song, the former Arsenal, Barcelona and West Ham midfielder, is not Rigobert’s brother, but his nephew. No other outlet reported the news and now African sports journalist Gary Al-Smith, who has worked for the BBC and CNN among others, reported this morning that Song is NOT dead and was even able to speak.