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Medics supervising Barcelona defender Eric Abidal's recovery say that the football player should receive permission to play at full strength by the summer.
Last year in March, the Frenchman underwent a liver transplant operation after failing to completely cure the tumor found in it the year before.
Since then, Abidal, under constant observation by Barcelona medics, started a long and very complex rehabilitation process. It was only in December 2012 that he was allowed limited physical activity in training sessions, and soon talk of his return to the field became more confident.
"We can already predict that Eric will be able to play by the summer. The moment is approaching when everything will depend not on medical specialists, but on the Barcelona team," said Dr. Juan Carlos Garcia-Valdecasas, who operated on the Frenchman.
At the end of 2012, the doctor who allowed the footballer to exercise at full strength mentioned that Abidal could have returned to the field earlier, but after the operation, he lost a lot of weight, his muscles atrophied, and needed to be rebuilt. According to Garcia-Valdecasas, in the final phase of rehabilitation, the patient's body was responding properly to physical stress, and the defender was gaining about a kilogram per week.
"He's eager to return to the field and can't wait to play. Eric is a true Barcelona player. Determined, fighting, and loving life. His resilience upon hearing the news of the illness surprised many, but he coped excellently with everything. His and Tito Vilanova's strength inspired many people with similar conditions," the doctor said on the radio station "Cadena Ser."
"We also monitor the health of his half-brother Gerardo, who donated part of his liver to Eric. The patient's condition is excellent," Garcia-Valdecasas stated.
By the way, on Wednesday, the Catalan team announced that Abidal would spend 3-4 days in a hospital in Barcelona, where additional tests would be conducted.
"The club, at the player's request, asks to respect his privacy," the official Barcelona press release said.
