Chapter 461: Chapter 397: Racing Against the Grim Reaper
The Confederations Cup never received much attention.
And with today’s match between the United States Team and the Cameroon Team, Gerland Stadium, with its capacity of forty-two thousand, was practically empty. At most, it was only half full.
The whistle blew for halftime. Many spectators instinctively stood up, heading to the restrooms or to buy drinks.
The ground temperature was scorching today.
So when player number 17, Mark Vivian Foe, collapsed, only a small portion of the crowd noticed.
Even his exhausted teammates, walking off the field, didn’t see what had happened.
It was his Manchester City teammate, Lucen Metomo, walking not far behind him, who saw it. His expression changed drastically as he shouted and rushed over.
Only then did the surrounding Cameroon players react. Some looked on in confusion, while others immediately sprinted toward him.
The players on the United States Team heard the shouting, but they just looked over, baffled, with no idea what was going on.
Chen Yu happened to see Mark Vivian Foe’s collapse. He subconsciously took two steps forward, the image of the fall replaying in his mind.
’Is it heatstroke?’
That was the first thought that entered Chen Yu’s mind.
In this heat, after running himself ragged keeping up with the United States Team for so long, heatstroke would be completely normal.
He had collapsed without warning, crumpling limply to the ground, which looked very much like a sudden faint from heatstroke.
But in the next moment, Chen Yu sharply noticed that after falling, Vivian Foe had made a subconscious move to clutch his chest with his left hand.
He only managed a single grasp before his left hand fell limply to his side.
His head was tilted to one side, his eyes had rolled back to show only the whites, and his chest rose and fell unnaturally. His breathing was also abnormal.
’His chest?’
Chen Yu’s heart leaped, and an unsettling thought surfaced inexplicably.
’Don’t tell me it’s a heart problem.’
His teammate was shouting toward the substitutes’ bench, and Cameroon’s team doctor was already sprinting over.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Yu also bolted forward.
He was too far away to see clearly what was happening.
After sprinting about thirty meters, Chen Yu reached the scene.
The Cameroon team doctor was slapping Vivian Foe’s cheeks, calling his name repeatedly.
He was at a loss, clearly panicked. The sudden emergency had left him unsure of what to do.
Chen Yu pushed through the crowd of Cameroon players, barking at them to spread out and give him space as he scanned the man with his Eye of All-Seeing.
At first glance, Chen Yu saw a fatal problem.
Having lost consciousness instantly, he had subconsciously swallowed his tongue, which was now blocking his pharynx.
Airway obstruction. That must be the cause of his shallow breathing.
Chen Yu immediately knelt down, unhesitatingly turned the player’s head to the side, pried open his clenched jaw, and swiftly and decisively pulled out his tongue.
In an instant, the man let out a sharp gasp of air.
The Cameroon team doctor, also kneeling beside the player, jumped in surprise. When he looked up, he saw it was Chen Yu.
Of course he recognized Chen Yu!
It was impossible not to. In the world of sports, especially among team doctors, Chen Yu was without a doubt a role model for them all.
"Chen, what’s wrong with him?" he asked anxiously.
He had subconsciously spoken in French, which Chen Yu didn’t understand.
Around them, the Cameroon players wore varied expressions. Some had their hands on their heads, while others were so frightened they were covering their mouths and crying.
"Everyone back off! Call the medical team!" Chen Yu ordered.
As he spoke, his gaze swept down from the throat and quickly settled on the heart.
With a single glance, Chen Yu saw the problem with the heart.
The right atrium was clearly enlarged.
Chen Yu sucked in a sharp, cold breath. A chill shot up his spine to the crown of his head.
’Damn it, a ruptured aortic sinus aneurysm!’
Even without having read those few cardiology books, Chen Yu knew just how perilous this condition was.
"Stretcher!"
Chen Yu immediately stood up and shouted into the distance.
You could say that from the second he collapsed, this guy’s name was on Death’s list. Every second from now on would determine whether he lived or died.
His teammates helped by shouting toward the sidelines.
The more anxious ones ran over directly to help drag the stretcher.
"What are you doing!"
Chen Yu whipped his head around to see the Cameroon team doctor leaning down, about to perform chest compressions on Vivian Foe. He quickly shoved the man to the ground.
’A ruptured aortic sinus aneurysm, and you’re doing chest compressions? Are you trying to kill him faster?’
"Someone go! Get the ambulance ready, find a police car for an escort, and get to the nearest hospital!" Chen Yu ordered, pointing at a random member of the Cameroon Team’s staff.
The stretcher team scrambled over.
"Everyone, move! You two, on my command, be gentle when you lift him." Chen Yu shouted orders, personally supporting Vivian Foe’s chest. "Three, two, one, lift him onto the stretcher."
"Go, now!"
Chen Yu yelled again, urging them to hurry.
Every single second counted now.
It was only because Chen Yu was constantly giving orders that the stretcher team managed to stay calm. They lifted Vivian Foe and hurried toward the players’ tunnel.
The Cameroon players, coaching staff, and event staff all followed.
The stands were in an uproar.
The crowd of reporters on the sidelines also swarmed over.
From the United States Team’s side, Alina and the others also rushed over, wanting to help.
The Cameroon team doctor jogged alongside them, anxiously asking Chen Yu what was wrong with Vivian Foe.
Even now, he still didn’t know what the problem was.
"Ruptured aortic sinus aneurysm!"
Chen Yu said curtly, turning his head for a moment.
The doctor was so shocked he stopped in his tracks, completely frozen.
The doctor from the event’s medical team next to him had a similar reaction. He stopped so abruptly that he almost tripped the staff carrying the stretcher.
With quick reflexes, Chen Yu steadied him and snapped, "Keep moving!"
Only then did that doctor snap out of it and hurry to catch up.
He didn’t have time to wonder how Chen Yu had made the diagnosis; he only knew this was a situation where every second was a matter of life and death.
Sprinting all the way, it took them maybe five minutes to reach the ambulance.
For an international match, an ambulance was always on standby.
The paramedics hurried to meet them, helping to lift the patient into the ambulance.
"Get out. What are you doing?" Seeing a Cameroon player trying to climb into the vehicle, Chen Yu pushed him right back out.
"You, get in!"
Chen Yu pointed at the Cameroon team doctor.
"Go, now!"
Signaling for the doors to be closed, Chen Yu immediately urged the driver to go.
There was a doctor in the ambulance, fumbling to attach monitor patches to Vivian Foe.
"I’ll do it." Chen Yu moved forward, pushed him aside, and then said, "Contact the destination hospital immediately. Tell them to prep an operating room and get ready for surgery. Right, what’s his blood type?"
Chen Yu turned his head to ask the Cameroon team doctor.
The man was sitting in the ambulance, completely stunned. Chen Yu had to ask a second time before he stammered out that it was type A.
"Tell them to prepare ten units of blood and a cardiopulmonary bypass machine."
The doctor on board nodded blankly and hurried to make the call.
The police car cleared the way ahead, its sirens wailing as they sped toward the hospital.
The entire rescue process was happening at lightning speed.
But Chen Yu still didn’t dare to relax. The patient’s right-sided heart failure was severe, the rupture wasn’t small, and it could worsen at any moment.
Just a few minutes after the ambulance had departed, Chen Yu’s expression suddenly changed.
"Pericardiocentesis kit!"
Chen Yu barked the order, immediately stepping forward, grabbing a pair of scissors, and cutting open Vivian Foe’s jersey.
"What’s wrong with him?"
The Cameroon team doctor, whose name was Servet, had just calmed down for a moment, but now his face turned pale with panic again.
The on-board doctor, however, was a bit calmer. He quickly rummaged for a pericardiocentesis kit and handed it over.
As Chen Yu tore open the package and sterilized the equipment, he said, "The aneurysm has ruptured into the pericardial cavity. He has pericardial tamponade."
Servet almost burst into tears. It was as if Death itself was determined to take Vivian Foe!
The on-board doctor scrambled to get the portable ultrasound machine.
"Don’t need it."
Chen Yu didn’t take it. He had already taken out the puncture needle and was inserting it into the 4th intercostal space.
At the very moment of insertion, a thought struck Chen Yu. He suddenly remembered an item in his system.
[Sports First Aid]
Chen Yu had rarely ever used this category.
And during his consultations at the clinic, since patients usually had appointments, emergencies were extremely rare.
So he had accumulated very little experience, and the first aid effects he had obtained were limited.
But he still had a few.
Chen Yu had saved them all. It was first aid, after all; you never knew when you might need it.
Being caught without it when you really needed it would be a disaster.
Unfortunately, they were all Bronze Level.
But it was better than nothing. Chen Yu used a Bronze-level effect without hesitation.
At the same time, Chen Yu also applied a Silver Level medical effect.
A pericardiocentesis, one way or another, could be considered a surgical procedure.
Instantly, the on-board doctor held his breath in terror, waving at the driver in front to drive more steadily.
If there was a bump and the needle pierced the heart, it would be all over.
Of course, such a situation was impossible.
Under the Eye of All-Seeing, Chen Yu precisely pierced the pericardium and drained the accumulated fluid.
Vivian Foe’s heartbeat showed some change.
Moreover, Chen Yu keenly noticed that, perhaps due to the system’s effect, the blood flow in the patient’s heart had miraculously slowed down.
The pressure on the aorta lessened, reducing the likelihood of the rupture tearing further.
Chen Yu glanced at the blood pressure reading; the body’s overall blood pressure had not dropped significantly.
Chen Yu was inwardly amazed, marveling at the system’s miraculous power.
However, relieving the pericardial tamponade had only managed to pull him back a little from Death’s grasp; the grim reaper hadn’t let go yet.
The on-board doctor looked at Chen Yu in disbelief.
’A direct puncture without ultrasound guidance, successful on the first try... His experience is just too vast.’
"Dr. Chen, aren’t you an orthopedic surgeon?" the on-board doctor asked, his voice trembling slightly.
He knew Chen Yu was a world-renowned authority in orthopedics, but he had never heard that Chen Yu was also so proficient in cardiology.
The man had just collapsed, and Chen Yu had diagnosed a ruptured aortic sinus aneurysm. Then, without any warning signs, he had discovered the pericardial tamponade. It was simply godlike.
Chen Yu didn’t answer the question. He looked at Vivian Foe, whose eyes were rolled back, his life hanging by a thread, and felt a mix of emotions.
An aortic sinus aneurysm is a relatively rare congenital cardiovascular malformation.
Before it ruptures, there are usually no symptoms, making it extremely difficult to detect.
And he was from Africa. To be honest, the medical environment there wasn’t the best, so it certainly would have gone undiscovered.
As for why it suddenly ruptured today, Chen Yu speculated it was related to the match.
The excessively hot weather had led to massive physical exertion.
Most importantly, the United States Team’s constant frenetic running had directly caused the Cameroon players’ exertion levels to skyrocket.
This kind of high-intensity play, over a very short period, was what triggered the sudden rupture.
And the United States Team dared to execute such tactics precisely because he himself had come to France with the team.
Having practiced medicine for many years, it wasn’t that Chen Yu had never lost a patient. He was accustomed to matters of life and death, but faced with this situation, he couldn’t help but feel emotional.
’Please don’t die!’
Chen Yu prayed silently in his heart.
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