Belgian Footballer Jackson Tchatchoua Survives Near-Fatal Car Crash in Morocco

A summer vacation in Morocco that almost turned into a tragedy. "I was enjoying a vacation in Morocco with Kilian (NDLR: Lokembo). We had decided to extend it by one day and, unfortunately, the incident happened that day. I was in a taxi to go pick up the plane tickets when a car came towards us. The driver swerved and we hit a bush. Luckily at a moderate speed," recounts Jackson Tchatchoua to La Dernière Heure. At the time of impact, he says he was on his phone. "I wasn’t looking at the road and my body wasn’t prepared for the shock. I felt like a whiplash. A very rapid movement forward then backward. Result: fracture of cervicals 1 and 2," continues the Belgian-Cameroonian player.

He receives first aid on the spot: paracetamol in the blood, ice, painkillers, a foam neck brace... Not enough to reassure Tchatchoua. He then decides to quickly return to Belgium to undergo various tests. "On June 27, the surgeon opened me up at the neck level and inserted a screw between my cervicals to help with consolidation. Two days of hospitalization. Then about ten days of rest before a gentle resumption. First bike, with the neck brace that I was able to remove in early August. Recently, the scan showed positive signs of consolidation, but I still have to be patient." The Belgian-Cameroonian winger of Charleroi could have lost his life.

"The surgeon told me that my spinal cord could have been affected, that I could have been paraplegic. Or even dead. In my misfortune, I consider myself lucky. And happy. I will be able to regain my range of motion and play football again," he rejoices. His range of motion has been greatly reduced at the neck level. Reconnecting with training will require time. "[...] There is on the one hand the feeling, and on the other, the medical imaging and the surgeon’s opinion. As long as it is not consolidated, I cannot return to the field. For now, I have been able to resume running. That’s already something. I hope to see more clearly at the next scan scheduled for the first half of September. The surgeon will decide."

The accident has impacted his transfer abroad, particularly to Italy. "Yes, my profile appeals to them there and my agent has told me about it. I may have been close to a step forward in my career, I don’t deny it. Here, I’ve taken a big step back but, you know, my career has always been strewn with obstacles, so I take this as a new stage. Everything that has happened to me has developed my strength of character. In life, nothing has ever been handed to me on a silver platter. I’ve always had to go after things, fight my doubts and fears. That’s what makes me proud and strong, by the way."