JEDDAH, 13 May 2004 — A collective sigh of relief was palpable at the Prince Adullah Al-Faisal Stadium here on Tuesday when the news of Al-Ittihad player Ahmad Karaish recovery reverberated throughout the stadium on Tuesday.
Yesterday Karaish was conscious and received fans and friends at the hospital where he was recovering. His condition is said to be stable and improving.
For 15 minutes on Tuesday, both the Ittihad and Al-Ahli fans waited anxiously for news of the Ittihadi defender who battled for his life after falling to the ground following a collision with his teammate Saud Kariri.
It was a long, nightmarish 15 minutes in the lives of the crowd, who moments before were cheering their teams on lustily. The fall of the player and failure to revive the player immediately brought on an eerie silence in the stadium that was a picture of rapturous cheering for nearly 80 minute of play.
Players, fans and officials wept and prayed for Karaish’s well-being as he was transported out of the stadium by an ambulance to the King Abdul Aziz Hospital, where doctors revived him.
The player now is in a stable condition and was transferred to King Faisal Specialist Hospital yesterday morning, where he met with many well-wishers and fans.
Many in the stadium thought that he had died because he was prostrate on the field and unconscious. It was the longest seconds and minutes many lived through at the stadium. The unity of the fans was reflected on the field, as Ahli and Ittihad players refused to play out the eight minutes remaining in the match despite calls from the referee to continue.
The King Fahd Soccer League game, that bore no consequence to the position of both the teams, was stopped with the scores level at 3-3 and the Ittihad and Ahli players followed the ambulance to the hospital in one bus.
Karaish said: “After my collision with my teammate as both of us went for the aerial ball, I blacked out. I was not aware of my surroundings; though I heard noises around me I was not aware who they were. To me, everything was like a dream. I thought I had died.”
He added: “My teammate did not have anything to do with what happened because it was I who collided with him.”
Fans in Jeddah, both of Ahli and Ittihad, were delighted that the player was out of danger and recovering.
Faisal Eshfaqa, an Ahli supporter, said: “I was shocked to see what happened. I forgot that he was an Ittihadi player and I an Ahli fan for what was more important is that both of us are humans and a near tragedy was unfolding before me.
“I was thinking of what his family, especially his parents, must be going through watching their son in that state on the TV. I thought of his wife and children. I was thinking of Ahmad Karaish the man not the player. Thank God he recovered”.
Amer Ahmad, an Ittihadi fan, said, “I could not stop the tears rolling down. I was shocked at what happened and thought this could be the last time we would see him walking. But by God’s grace he has recovered.”
He added that the near tragedy brought the Ittihad and Ahli players and fans closer and they united as one to pray for Kharaish’s recovery. “We saw the unity and brotherhood between officials, players and fans from both sides, which was just beautiful.”
