The death of the young Aurillac player (Pro D2), Louis Fajfrowski deeply hit the rugby world a few days before the kickoff of the new season.
To die at the age of 21 in the locker room of a stadium, on the sidelines of a match, is the sad fate of Louis Fajfrowski , who died of a heart attack in Aurillac, Friday, August 10, 2018.
Out of the field after a veneer that made him lose consciousness, he twice collapsed in the locker room of the stadium Jean-Alric Aurillac and twice regained consciousness. A third discomfort was fatal to him, the medical staff of the club then the SAMU, dispatched to the scene, unable to revive him.
All Ovalie cries …
Quickly, the information circulated in the small world of ovality mobilized, in this summer evening of August 10th, on many grounds for a series of friendlies to a week of the resumption of the championship of Pro D2 and a fortnight of the Top 14 .
Bernard Laporte , president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) reacted via twitter:
Effondré d’apprendre que Louis Fajfrowski, jeune joueur du Stade Aurillacois, est décédé ce soir. Toutes mes sincères condoléances à sa famille, à ses proches ainsi qu’au Stade Aurillacois.
— Bernard Laporte (@BernardLaporte_) 10 August 2018
Just like a very large number of professional and amateur clubs :
L’ensemble du @CastresRugby adresse ses sincères condoléances à la famille et aux proches de Louis Fajfrowski, ainsi qu’au @SArugbyofficiel.
— Castres Olympique (@CastresRugby) 10 August 2018
Le @StadeToulousain adresse toutes ses condoléances à la famille du @SArugbyofficiel et aux proches de Louis Fajfrowski.
— Stade Toulousain (@StadeToulousain) 10 August 2018
Le Bourges is associated with the punishment of the club of Aurillac following the death of one of their player. Our condolences to the family and the club. #rugby # solidarity #FAMILLERUGBY
— bourgesxv (@bourgesxv) August 11, 2018
The hardness of the game
An autopsy will be held to determine the exact reasons for the death of the player, announced the Stade Aurillacois.
But already a number of supporters or players are opening the debate on the athletic dimension and the hardness of the game .
#rugby Il est urgent que des décisions soient prises au niveau mondial pour protéger l’intégrité physique des joueurs en réduisant les contacts et en privilégiant le jeu de passes. La course à l’armement n’a que trop duré. Evitons d’autres drames. @lequipe @FFRugby @ProvaleRugby
— CARRIERE Jérôme (@CARRIEREJerome) 11 August 2018
Toujours plus musclé, plus d’impact, plus de force , de vitesse… Et les mecs qui n’ont qu’un protège dents en protection.
Il serait peut-être temps que le rugby fasse sa révolution . C’est fini le #Rugby d’avant.
Elles sont belles les valeurs.
RIP #TOP14 https://t.co/bYnXNL0wIl— 🇫🇷⭐Br. & D⭐🇫🇷 (@N1tr0BD) 11 August 2018
Last January, the impressive K.-O. suffered by the young Clermont Samuel Ezeala , for his first game of Top 14, had already aroused a very strong emotion.
Ezeala was unconscious after hitting the first sound against Racing 92 Virimi Vakatawa at full speed.
The images of this shock and the sheets stretched by the medical staff to hide the details of the intervention had greatly impressed.
The warnings of Jean Chazal
The player has since resumed a normal life, according to him no more signs of concussion. “It’s good, but the next time, (a death) could happen,” warned Jean Chazal, neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand , who had participated in the medical reflection of the FFR and the League before to be dismissed early July.
A few months earlier, after a final phase of Top 14 marked by the violence of shocks, this professor had already sounded the alarm, saying fearing a death on the ground.
The world of rugby is slowly becoming aware of the danger of sport, even if this awareness is not the same for everyone. Bernard Laporte himself had estimated at the time that the KO. Ezeala was an “unfortunate” event.
Another case, that of Internation Wesley Fofana, also resident of the Clermont club. A few days ago, Wesley Fofana said he almost “die on the ground or finish disabled” during a match in Pau in December 2017.
