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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Roller95 on 2025-09-06 07:40:40+00:00.

Fortuna Sittard player Samuel Bastien (28) was absent for months. The midfielder tells De Limburger for the first time why he was out of the picture for so long. ‘I chose to stay out of the limelight to recover with the support of my family.

Samuel Bastien sits quietly in an almost empty stand at Standard Liège’s training complex. You would hardly recognise him. His distinctive dreadlocks have disappeared – as has his place on the pitch. But his lavishly tattooed arms still reveal who he is: the Belgian-Congolese midfielder for Fortuna Sittard.

He looks intently at his teammates. Fortuna Sittard is playing a practice match against the Belgian team. It is 3-1 halfway through the second half – which would also be the final score – and Fortuna coach Danny Buijs has just brought half a dozen youth players onto the pitch.

Bastien is not in the squad. He hasn’t been for months. He played his last match on 16 March this year. Buijs let him play for two minutes in the away match against FC Groningen. After that, he seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Reason enough to talk to him now that he is showing himself for the first time in months.

‘Come on, let’s stand here for a moment,’ he says after getting up. He begins his story with a list of misfortunes. ‘I was in a coma, in hospital and in a wheelchair.’ Is he sure he wants to tell his story to the newspaper reporter? ‘Of course, you can write this down,’ he confirms three times during the conversation.

‘It all started after a practice match in April. I don’t even remember who we were playing. But I got a really bad headache. I went to bed hoping the pain would go away, but it didn’t.’ When the symptoms persisted, he was given ibuprofen by Fortuna’s club doctor. ‘But that didn’t help either.’

In the end, he decided to go to the hospital in his hometown of Liège for an examination. ‘Two days later, they called me to tell me to come in, as it didn’t look good.’ He pauses.

‘I had a stroke.’ With his right hand, he brings his thumb and index finger together to within half a centimetre. ‘It was a close call, and I could have died.’ Surgery proved necessary. He turns around and slides his index finger over the scar on his neck to the back of his head. It is at least fifteen centimetres long from top to bottom. ‘No, I was never afraid.’ And he smiles, revealing his pearly white teeth.

Now he can smile again, but the medical procedure and the period that followed were exhausting. ‘After the operation, I was in a coma for three days. Then I spent another two weeks in hospital, before moving to the rehabilitation ward.’ He takes his phone out of his pocket. A few photos of him in his hospital bed flash by. He also shows a photo of the stitches in the back of his head.

Many people asked where I was. I received quite a few messages on Instagram. However, I chose to remain out of the spotlight to recover with the support of my family and children. Imagine: at first, I was in a wheelchair, then I walked on crutches. I had to learn to walk again, truly. But I persevered.

Fortuna has announced that it remained in close contact with Bastien’s family during his rehabilitation, but did so remotely in order to give the player space to recover in peace. Out of respect for Bastien’s privacy, the Sittard-based Premier League club was unable and unwilling to elaborate on his situation. He has been at the club for the past few days and on Wednesday he was back on the training pitch for the first time in a long time.

Now he is back with his team, visiting Standard Liège, where he enjoyed his best days as a footballer. He was captain of the Walloon team and played three seasons in the Europa League in red and white. ‘It’s nice to be here. It feels a bit like home.’

But it’s even better to be able to think about playing football again. ‘I’m fit. I’m going to get back to professional football level,’ he says without a hint of doubt in his voice. How long that will take remains to be seen. But whatever happens, Samuel Bastien is back.