It is not yet clear when the comatose footballer Donny van Iperen can return to the Netherlands. The footballer has been in a Moldovan hospital since Saturday. His arrival depends on the availability of a special ambulance plane that will bring the footballer to the Netherlands.
Joey van Iperen, Donny’s brother, will inform NH Nieuws this evening. The 27-year-old professional football player plays for the Moldovan FC Zimbru. On Saturday, he collided unhappily with the opponent’s keeper. Since then, the former Telstar player has been in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Moldova.
FC Zimbru announced a day after the accident that Van Iperen was doing well, but yesterday the club came back to it. “Unfortunately, the situation has remained bad since and until now, as there has been no substantial improvement in health,” said director Sergiu Topor yesterday.
No care without insurance
After the hospitalization, the footballer’s relatives did everything they could to get him to the Netherlands, but they ran into a wall. Transport and hospital bed could not be arranged in the Netherlands, because the footballer does not have Dutch health insurance. Because Van Iperen is registered in Moldova, he is dependent on the care of the country.
However, the municipality of Dijk en Waard announced this afternoon that Donny, who originally comes from Sint-Pancras, can register in the short term as soon as he is in the Netherlands. This is necessary to register the footballer for health insurance.
Donny’s condition is still unchanged. “We hope that this will improve”, says his brother Joey, “especially once we are in the Netherlands.”