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Many people are quick to stamp the hashtag #RelationshipGoals on any situation where two celebrities are smiling in a photo. But few couples have ever experienced a situation as difficult as Bernadette Adams and her husband, Jean-Pierre Adams. Her commitment to her relationship is remarkable.
Jean-Pierre, 68, is a former professional soccer player who helped France to win several World Cups in the 1970s. The Senegalese born star was one of the first men of color on the team.
Praised by many for his boisterous personality and strong, athletic build, Jean-Pierre has been in a coma for the past 33 years.
On March 17, 1982, Jean-Pierre was scheduled to undergo an operation on his knee for a torn ligament. The hospital was severely understaffed at the time, as the doctors were on strike, and there was only one anesthesiologist and a trainee to oversee his procedure.
Ventilation tubes were improperly placed and Jean-Pierre’s brain was deprived of oxygen and he went into a cardiac arrest. The result was irreversible brain damage with a slim chance of recovery. Since that day in 1982, Jean-Pierre has not walked or talked.
The couple has two sons, Laurent and Frédéric, who were 11 and 4 years old at the time of the accident. Bernadette and Jean-Pierre are also grandparents.
But despite the odds, 72-year-old Bernadette has devoted her life to being her husband’s caregiver. While he is incapable of nearly all voluntary movement, he can digest food as well as open and close his eyes. Everyday Bernadette dresses, feeds and bathes her husband in addition to turning him over in his bed to avoid sores.
On the reasoning behind keeping her husband alive despite his vegetative state, Bernadette says, “His condition does not get any worse, so who knows? If one day, medical science evolves, then why not? Will there be a day when they’ll know how to do something for him? I don’t know.”
Beauties, could your “…In sickness and in health” vows withstand a 33-year coma? If you were Bernadette, would you have started another life or is it your responsibility to remain committed to being your husband’s lifelong caregiver?
Click here to watch Bernadette share her story.
SOURCE: CNN
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