Nicolás Soto
is 30 years old and lives in Neuquén.
But time will go by and history will say that he was one of the few Argentines who missed the last three games of the Qatar 2022 World Cup that consecrated Argentina after more than three and a half decades.
What happened in between?
An unexpected hospitalization that left him in a pharmacological coma after the round of 16 match.
When he woke up, he received the best news:
"We are world champions"
.
The young man never had health problems.
After the exciting match against Australia on Arab soil,
he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder blade
.
The discomfort did not go away and he turned to a doctor.
The studies showed that he had
advanced pneumonia
: he had already taken a whole lung.
The other presented a clot and an effusion.
He was urgently admitted to the Cipolletti Hospital.
He underwent
two surgeries
to deal with infections and underwent a
tracheostomy
.
He only had 20% strength to breathe, the rest was completed assisted by the artificial respirator.
Liliana Herrera, his mother, accompanied him at all times and followed all the evolution along with
Eros, his 11-year-old grandson
who missed seeing him with his father .
the dramatic definition with the Netherlands, the win against Croatia, the epic final against France and the celebrations throughout the country.
Christmas is here.
Nicolás kept his eyes closed.
The prayer chains and the support of family and friends did not stop.
It was a way to give him strength.
All that energy came before the end of the year.
It was the morning of December 27 when the young man reacted and did not know where he was
.
The first thing he saw was a medical therapist who was with him in the room.
She first asked him if she remembered his name.
He nodded with a small nod.
After explaining everything that happened, he asked him if he liked soccer.
Still soothed by the medical effects, he managed to come up with a modest affirmative answer.
"I have to give you good news. We are world champions
," exclaimed the professional.
Nicolás Soto greets his family, after receiving the medical discharge.
Photo: LMNeuquén
Emotion washed over him.
And tears welled up in his eyes.
Happiness was double.
And the doctor began to show him some videos of a more than expected image:
Messi lifting the World Cup.
"I got to Australia. Then the TV went off
," joked Nicolás, in dialogue with
Telefé
.
He said that he came to buy the Scaloneta shirt, but he was able to wear it only once.
"When I woke up, I didn't know where I was or how I had gotten to the clinic. Little by little, the chips fell. The doctor told me that we had been world champions and it was kind of strange.
We started crying and it was pretty crazy
, " added.
Nicolás spent the New Year in the clinic to continue monitoring and was discharged during the first days of 2023. When he left the medical center, he was met with a warm welcome from his family.
Light blue and white balloons, and a sign that read: "You are our world champion."
Nicolás Soto had an emotional reception when he left the Hospital.
Photo: LMNeuquén
Her mother described that moment: "She was crying and hugging Eros, and all the clinic employees were crying too."
In dialogue with
LM Neuquén
, she recounted that her son "had never seen Argentina champion, and he was excited about this World Cup because he was the first to share with Eros, who is already more conscious to enjoy soccer."
Nicolás, who works as a maintenance guard in a cooperative,
could not see the pending meetings as soon as he got home
.
A cousin of his did not let him.
"I have a cousin who is kind of crazy, he's a fan and he didn't let me because he told me that he wanted us to see them all together," he pointed out, a wide smile on his face.
The story went viral in the last few hours, after a Twitter user recounted that "a patient woke up after weeks of being in a coma and just found out that we came out champions."
Quickly, the number of likes and retweets increased.
One user claimed that this moment was not filmed, while another joked: "Let him know when he is discharged that we will pick him up and we will all celebrate again at the Obelisk," joked one user.
Another claimed that he had not filmed that moment.
It is that the hubbub for having achieved the third star seems to have no end.
And the already classic
"Boys, now we are excited again..." will
reverberate in Nicolás's ears for these hours, over and over again.
Bill paid off.
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