The Ukrainian soccer league lived one of its most dramatic moments on the weekend when player Jaba Kankava, of the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk team helped his colleague Oleg Gusev of the Kiev Dynamos, who passed away for a few minutes after crashing into goalkeeper Denys Boyko.
During the first half of the match of the Ukrainian Premier League celebrated on Sunday, the captain of the Dynamo tried to reach the ball close to the goal guarded by Denys Boyko, however, he violently crashed against the goalkeeper and fell to the ground.
When he noticed that he had passed out, Jaba Kankava, a player in the rival team, ran to help him and a show of sportsmanship that prevented a tragedy.
According to The Telegraph, the midfielder reacted immediately and stuck his finger down Gusev's throat to keep him from swallowing his tongue, clearing his airways, in a dramatic moment that has quickly gone viral.
A video barely two minutes long captures the intense moments of an unconscious Gusev who starts convulsing violently, while Kankava desperately tries to keep him from asphyxiating with his own tongue.
His colleagues and players in the other team gather around the players in a couple of tense minutes, until Gusev seems to react, to the relief of everyone.
"He suffered a contusion, various bruises and a battered jaw. He's lucky to have these minor injuries. His spine, skull and bones are intact, nothing is broken," said the Dynamo medic, Leonid Myronov, shortly after the match, according to The Guardian.
"He lost consciousness for a brief period, convulsed and swallowed his tongue, but our Dnipro colleagues provided professional urgent help and everything was resolved," the medic said thankfully.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
