Jupp Heynckes underwent emergency surgery in mid-November. Dr. Arthur Lichtenberg was in charge of the operation, in which the former German coach had to have several bypasses placed in his heart to reverse a situation that had become more complicated than it should have been. Heynckes had two completely blocked arteries.
After the operation at Dusseldorf University Hospital, the former Real Madrid coach was in intensive care for nearly two weeks. He is now out of the hospital and has discussed those delicate moments that he had to live through.
“That was the worst moment of my life. I couldn’t sleep, time doesn’t pass. It was martyrdom,” Heynckes said.
The heart problem was detected by his family doctor and personal friend Dr. Heinz Hermann-Aretz and confirmed by cardiologist Robert Zabrocki at the Elisabeth Hospital in Monchengladbach-Rheydt.
After the tests he underwent, it was decided that he had to undergo emergency surgery.
“You don’t expect such a serious operation,” he said Heynckeswho thanked “all the doctors and staff who looked after me”.
At the age of 77, Heynckes has retired from coaching. His CV both as a player and as a coach is exceptional. He was European Champion in 1972 and World Champion in 1974 with Germany.
As a coach, he led Real Madrid to win the seventh European Cup in 1998 and Bayern Munich to the treble in 2013.
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