Health shock for Hanover boss
“Actually, I was already dead”
11/11/2025 – 5:58 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Martin Kind reports on several extensive procedures that he recently had to undergo – and it becomes clear.
Hannover 96 supervisory board chairman Martin Kind had apparently struggled with serious health problems in recent months. The 81-year-old explained this on the sidelines of Lower Saxony’s home game against Darmstadt 98 on Saturday (2:3). It was Child’s first visit to the stadium in many weeks.
“Actually, I was already dead,” said the main shareholder of Hannover 96 to “Neue Presse” regarding his situation. He had to undergo three complicated procedures on his back and a heart operation and is still in the rehabilitation phase. During the heart procedure, four bypasses were placed. He was in the intensive care unit for a long time, “but I noticed almost nothing about it.”
What’s more: “If you had a heart attack like I did, then you are actually relatively close to death,” explained Kind in an interview with “Bild”. The diagnosis came as a surprise to him. “I was convinced that my heart was fine. But that was a mistake.” Four bypasses are “an impressive number,” the 96 boss continued.
He had already missed Hanover’s first game of the season against Kaiserslautern (1-0) in the summer due to his health problems. In the game against Hertha BSC in September (0:3) he left the stadium just a few minutes after kick-off. Heart surgery followed two days later.
Now he has to make up for the deficit in his health: “After five months with problems, of course, stamina and strength are lost, and there is also muscle loss,” explained Kind. Nevertheless, he is confident: “Everything has to be rebuilt. However, I have a lot of hope.”
The situation was made more difficult by the fact that the child had never been in the hospital before. “The four operations were a challenge,” he said. At the same time, Kind emphasized: “But the results of the operations are important, because they were successful.” Kind has a lot of praise for the treating doctors: “What they have done and what is possible medically today is unbelievable, simply excellent.”