Jonathan Richter (born 16 January 1985) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

disabled professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder, who played for the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

side FC Nordsjælland. He is the son of a

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

n father and a Danish mother and the

twin brother Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

of Simon Richter. On 20 July 2009 while playing at

Hvidovre Stadion Hvidovre Stadium (Danish: Hvidovre Stadion) is an athletics- and association football stadium located in Hvidovre, south west of Copenhagen, Denmark, that is owned and operated by Hvidovre Municipality. It is currently used mostly for association ...

, Richter was struck by lightning which resulted in

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. He was put into a medically induced

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

and cooled to as part of the Danish standard cardiac arrest procedure. As a result of the injuries sustained, Richter was supposed to stay in a medical induced coma until 29 July. Medical staff at

Hvidovre Hospital Hvidovre Hospital is a hospital in Hvidovre near Copenhagen in Denmark. It is administered by the Capital Region of Denmark. The hospital was built from 1968 to 1979 and was officially opened on March 26, 1976. The hospital stands out for not ...

had hoped to be able to wake Richter from the coma soon after the accident but Richter's recovery was slower than hoped. This resulted in the doctors pushing back to bring Richter out of the coma twice. Around August 1, Richter was taken out of the coma and on August 2, when doctors removed the last parts of the respirator equipment, Richter started to speak almost immediately. When club owner Allan K. Pedersen called

to check on Richter, Richter himself told doctors to tell Allan K. Pedersen that everything was good. In late August 2009, Richter and his medical advisors decided to amputate Richter's lower left leg. This has, according to medical sources, dramatically improved Richter's general well-being. FC Nordsjælland retired Richter's number 26 after his forced retirement from football at the age of 24. Richter serves on the board of Danish team FC Græsrødderne, who compete in the fourth tier of the Danish football.

References

FC Nordsjælland profileOfficial Danish Superliga player statistics
at danskfodbold.com 1985 births Living people Danish people of Gambian descent Danish men's footballers FC Nordsjælland players Danish Superliga players Danish twins Injuries from lightning strikes Men's association football midfielders {{Denmark-footy-midfielder-stub