Ex-Ajax Rising Star Appie Nouri Back Home, Showing Progress After Coma, Brother Says

Abdelhak Nouri, the former Ajax rising star who was forced into a coma after an on-field heart attack in 2017, is home and making progress in his recovery, his brother said.

Abderrahim Nouri told Dutch TV program De Wereld Draait Door that Abdelhak, who is affectionately known as Appie, has left the hospital and is able to communicate to a degree with his family, which is caring for him. Abdelhak Nouri collapsed during a preseason friendly vs. Werder Bremen in Austria in July 2017. Ajax admitted to substandard medical treatment on the field in the immediate moments after his cardiac episode, which resulted in severe brain damage. He was placed in a medically induced coma and started waking up a year later, though movement and communication remained extremely limited. Going home represents a big step in his recovery.

"He has not been home very long, we take care of him there now," Abderrahim Nouri said. "I must say that since he is at home it is going much better than before in the hospital. He is aware of where he is, he is back in a familiar environment with his family. He’s no longer in a coma. He’s just awake. 

"He sleeps, he sneezes, he eats, he burps, but it’s not like he gets out of bed. He’s very bedridden and still very dependent on us. On his good days, there is a form of communication, for example, confirmation with his eyebrows or a smile. But you notice that he can’t last that very long."

Abderrahim Nouri added that Appie, now 22, had been watching matches with the family, sometimes smiling and showing emotion.

Nouri's former Ajax teammate, Frenkie de Jong, told an anecdote of a visit he had with him at the hospital, prior to his departure for Barcelona.

"I was sitting with him and his mother entered” De Jong said, according to Barcelona's official website. “She asked him ‘Where should Frenkie go? Should he sign for Barça?' And he raised an eyebrow. It was a very special moment.”

Nouri has been the subject of fan, player and club tributes around Ajax, the Netherlands and beyond, with "Stay Strong Appie" a familiar rallying cry in the immediate aftermath of his collapse. When Ajax won the Eredivisie title last year, it was its 34th in its history–matching the number Nouri used to wear on his jersey and serving as the basis for even more tributes from club personnel.

"The intention is that Appie keeps getting better," his father, Mohammed, said. "We have to take care of him as best we can. We try to do a lot ourselves. We have less nurses and help in the home now. We do a lot ourselves."