Horrific particulars of Diego Maradona’s ‘deformed coronary heart and agonising demise’ emerge in court docket
Diego Maradona died an agonising death after suffering a heart attack aged 60 in 2020, and the horrific details have been heard in court, with his medical carers on trial
Diego Maradona suffered an agonising 12-hour death in a dark room while struggling to breathe, a court heard.
The Argentine football legend suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot. Four-and-a-half litres of fluid had accumulated in his organs due to an acute pulmonary edema brought on by his heart failure.
Following Maradona’s death, a neurosurgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, medical coordinator, nursing coordinator, doctor and night nurse have gone on trial in Argentina charged with homicide.
Prosecutors allege they gave criminally negligent care to the World Cup hero in the days before his death. All of the defendants deny any wrongdoing when treating the former Barcelona and Napoli star, who spent decades battling cocaine and alcohol addictions.
Argentine newspaper Clarin reported the grim details which emerged in the trial, with forensic expert Carlos Mauricio Casinelli showing pictures of brain clots and claiming that Maradona’s deformed heart weighed 503 grams – more than a football.
“The heart was completely covered in fat and blood clots, which indicate agony,” Casinelli said. “This is a patient who had been collecting water over the days; that’s not acute.
“This was something that was foreseeable. Any doctor examining a patient would find this. The water he had in his abdomen, in both pleurae, and in his heart isn’t normal; it doesn’t form in a day or an hour. It’s been forming over several days; there’s no exact time.
“It could have been from the time he was expelled (from hospital) until he died. This is likely to take at least 10 days, given the addition of cirrhosis and myocarditis.”
Maradona had been recovering at home from a surgery on a brain blood clot, which he suffered earlier that month. And just two weeks later, Argentina and the football world mourned his death.
Casinelli added: “It was a dark, partitioned room, with a bed in the middle of the room and a portable toilet. It didn’t seem like a suitable place for what we later learned was home hospitalisation.”
Forensic doctor Federico Corasaniti backed up the claim that Maradona had suffered a gradual death. He believes that Maradona’s condition was so bad that the pressure on his lungs would have been audible to other people.
“From my experience with the generalized edema, the difficulty he must have had breathing and exchanging gases, and the sounds in his lungs that are audible just by bringing his face close,” he said. “In my opinion as a doctor, it wasn’t a sudden event.”
The World Cup winner struggled with drug addiction, obesity and alcoholism for decades and reportedly came close to dying in 2000 and 2004. But prosecutors suspect that his death could have been avoided if it were not for the negligence of his doctors.
Maradona’s family have alleged negligence, a cover-up, and derogatory comments from the medical team who oversaw his care, calling it a “mafia”. Those charged deny wrongdoing but could face up to 25 years in prison.
