Jean-Pierre Adams is a former French football player, who played for the national team 22 times.
In 1982, he was admitted to hospital because he needed surgery for a ligament rupture injury.
Because many hospital staff were on strike during the time, errors were made by the anesthetist and a trainee who administered a large dose of anaesthetic.
Because of this negligence, Adams suffered a bronchospasm which starved his brain of oxygen and he slipped into a coma.
As a result, Adams remained in a coma for 39 years. His wife tended to his needs, refusing to allow euthanasia.
He died on 6 September 2021 in Nîmes at the age of 73, nearly four decades after the surgery.