Rudy Guélord Bhebey-Ndey (born 9 March 1990) is a Congolese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

AC Léopards Athlétic Club Léopards de Dolisie is a football (soccer) club from the Republic of Congo based in Dolisie, Niari Department. Honours *Congo Premier League :Winner (4): 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017. :Runners-up (3): 2009, 2010, 2011. * Coupe du C ...

International career

In January 2014, coach Claude Leroy invited Ndey to be a part of the Congo national squad for the

2014 African Nations Championship The 2014 African Nations Championship was the third African Nations Championship association football, football tournament. The 16 national teams featured players from the respective national championships. The tournament took place between 11 Ja ...

. The Congo were eliminated in the group stage after losing to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, drawing with

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and defeating

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, with Ndey himself scoring the only goal in that match.

Spinal cord injury

Ndey had a career-ending

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

on 26 July 2015 in a match against

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, an ...

at the

2015 CAF Confederation Cup The 2015 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Foo ...

. He arrived at the hospital with "serious damage to his spinal column between his fifth and sixth vertebra, a blow to the spinal cord, breathing difficulties and a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

". After emergency surgery, he was sent to France to help speed up his recovery. The injury rendered him

tetraplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

and put a stop to his career.

References

External links

* * 1986 births 2014 African Nations Championship players AC Léopards players FC Zorya Luhansk players Ukrainian Premier League players Republic of the Congo A' international footballers Association football forwards Living people People with tetraplegia Republic of the Congo footballers Republic of the Congo people with disabilities Republic of the Congo international footballers Republic of the Congo expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Gabon Expatriate footballers in Gabon {{RCongo-footy-bio-stub