Swedish national team soccer player Kristoffer Olsson had to be put on a ventilator in the winter due to a rare inflammatory condition of the brain. Now he plans to come back even stronger.
A Swedish soccer player who came close to death in the winter due to a rare inflammatory condition of the brain Kristoffer Olsson plans to return to the playing fields even stronger.
Olsson, who was discharged in August, has already started individual training. SVT tellsthat the 29-year-old player is now training a couple of times a week, and the amount of training is to be increased gradually.
In February, Olsson suddenly lost consciousness while at home, and small blood clots were found in his brain.
He was first treated at the Århus University Hospital and then at the neurocenter in Hammel.
Family for support
Kristoffer Olsson being on a ventilator was a difficult time for his family as well. SVT tells Olsson’s loved ones in the hospital endured the situation hour by hour, because in the first weeks no one knew how the situation would progress.
– It was terrible, terrible and hard to see her own son like that, Kristoffer Olsson’s mother Lena Olsson remembers.
Mother Olsson got the first glimpse of her son’s recovery when he touched his left hand to the groin and moved his finger.
– Then various tests were done on his hands and feet, and he was seen to react. That’s when we felt he was going to make it.
The player has said that he himself does not remember anything about his first weeks after being hospitalized. Nevertheless, family support means a lot.
– They have been my biggest and most important support. It cannot be taken for granted.
The passion is back
Olsson considers his return to football completely realistic, but he is aware that it will take time.
– What I’ve been through makes me stronger, and I love playing football again, he commented for SVT.
In the first months after the diagnosis, Olsson didn’t think about football at all.
– It was sick. I have thought about and played football since I was a child. Now it’s back. I get happy and want to play when I even think about football.
At the club team level, Olsson represents the Danish FC Midtjylland. He has also been a familiar sight in the Swedish national team.
Olsson reminds that even if a return to the national team would make him happy, it depends on whether the coach believes he is good enough.
– It is not a goal that I have to return to the national team. However, it would be nice to get two to three matches to reach 50 international matches, he admits.