A 21-year-old former Lyon and Saint-Etienne footballer has been declared as brain dead following a 'drowning' incident in the River Rhone
An ex-Lyon and Saint-Etienne footballer, 21, has been declared as brain dead following an incident in the Rhone River.
Kenzo Kies had been enjoying the French heatwave near the Parc de la Feyssine, between Villeurbanne and Caluire-et-Cuire, where swimming is prohibited. Emergency services were called to the scene at around 5:30pm on Monday.
According to local reports, four people, including Kies, had been sucked into a strong current. It's claimed two people were pulled from the river without requiring medical attention, while a third was carried out of the water and resuscitated before being taken to a nearby hospital in a stable condition.
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However, Kies, at first, could not be found. And divers eventually managed to pull him from the water but he was declared brain dead following a resuscitation attempt.
Brain dead is where an individual has suffered irreversible and permanent loss of all brain function. A ventilator can artificially keep their heart beating, but they will never regain consciousness.
According to French outlet RMC Sport , an investigation into the cause of death has been opened by the Lyon public prosecutor's office.
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French sports minister Marina Ferrari issued a warning against swimming in potentially dangerous areas on Tuesday.
She said: "Around 20 people have drowned since the start of last weekend. I urge people to respect the safety warnings. People go to swim in unsupervised areas during heatwaves, and it is not a trivial matter.
“I understand people want to go into the water to cool down. But they really have to stick to areas that are supervised.”
Kies had started his footballing career at French giants Lyon - working his way up through the academy before moving to AS Saint-Etienne.
However, the youngster left their set-up at the end of his contract last summer. He moved to Ligue 2 side En Avant Guingamp, where he had been playing for the reserves.