- The boy from Hounslow, London, was attending a youth football tournament
A British teenager is fighting for his life in a coma after being found ‘lifeless’ in a swimming pool during a football tournament in Sweden.
The 16-year-old from Hounslow, West London, who goes by the name Sajawal Aziz, was in the country for a youth tournament when he was found unconscious last Friday.
The “talented” footballer was spotted by fellow players in the swimming pool at Nolhaga Parkbad in Allingsås and pulled out of the water, local authorities said.
His “terrified” family say he is now in a coma in hospital, with medical staff reportedly threatening to turn off his life support.
Family and friends are begging the British government for help and have appealed to bring him home.
The 16-year-old from Hounslow, West London, who is known as Sajawal, was in the country for a youth football tournament
The “intelligent and friendly” schoolboy was participating in the world’s largest youth football tournament, the Gothia Cup, when the incident occurred.
Pool staff resuscitated the teenager before he was flown by helicopter to Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, about 40 kilometres away.
Niklas Ehnfors, head of communications at Allingsås council, said the teenager was spotted and pulled from the water by Swedish players who were also in the pool at the time. Subway defeated.
He said: ‘Service personnel were called and were able to confirm he was lifeless – he was not breathing and had no pulse. CPR was commenced and continued until emergency services arrived on the scene.’
Tournament spokesman Malin Fahlén said staff were “extremely concerned and saddened” by the events.
He said: ‘Now we are going to try to focus all our resources on the best support and care.’
a GoFundMe A friend has also set up a page to help with medical costs and to fly the boy back to the UK.
The ‘talented’ footballer was spotted by fellow players in the swimming pool at Nolhaga Parkbad in Allingsås and pulled out, local authorities said.
So far, over £13,000 has been raised of the £50,000 target. The money will go to Sajawal’s father.
Police are currently investigating the incident at the pool, which was closed last weekend.
It is the second year in a row that an accident has occurred at the Nolhaga Parkbad during the tournament, the Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.
Last year, a 15-year-old Ethiopian player died after being found at the bottom of the pool.
Mr Ehnfors said: ‘People usually say that lightning doesn’t strike twice, but in this case it certainly feels like it has.
“But we try to focus on the situation we have now. Then of course we analyze if there are similarities with the accident last year.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement: “We are providing consular support to the family of a British citizen who is in hospital in Sweden.”