The story of Bernadette Adams, the wife of former French footballer, Jean-Pierre Adams has resonated with many around the world. Bernadette’s love for her husband who is still in coma for over three decades now continues to excite and marvel many. Her husband’s life was brutally turned upside down in 1982 when then 34 years he walked into a Lyon hospital for some routine surgery. Jean-Pierre Adams had gone to the hospital to correct a troublesome knee but he left not able to talk, walk or move any of his limbs again. The medical staff were found guilty of “involuntary injury” fined 750 Euros which of current value. His story has been told but Adams’ wife Bernadette has been the woman attending to him ever since.

Barely misses a day

She barely misses a day’s care over the last 37 years. In a recent interview with the CNN Bernadette said “No one ever forgets to give Jean-Pierre presents, whether it’s his birthday, Christmas or Father’s Day”. This year Adams turned 70years and according to Bernadette can now breathe on his own, without the assistance of a machine. Jean-Pierre Adams during his footballing days. Despite in coma, he has his own room, spends most of the day in a modified bed normally. “We buy presents like a T-shirt or a jumper because I dress him in his bed — he changes clothes every day,” Bernadette said from the family home near Nîmes, in the south of France. Bernadette added that “I’ll buy things so that he can have a nice room, such as pretty sheets, or some scent. He used to wear Paco Rabanne but his favorite one stopped so now I buy Sauvage by Dior.” Jean-Pierre is able to digest food as well as open and close his eyes. Bernadette says she always looks after her husband with an unfailing love, dressing, feeding and bathing him. She often will her own sleep to ensure Adams gets his.

Strong bond

Even when Bernadette is away, those who provide assistant care for Jean-Pierre his mood seems to change. “He senses that it is not me feeding him and looking after him,” says Bernadette who has been a wife of 47 years. Jean-Pierre before his disastrous surgery moved from Senegal and settled in France where he played for the European nation in the 1970s. It was his grandmother who took him to Europe on a religious pilgrimage, enrolling him at a school in France at the age of 10. He was soon adopted by a local French couple and in the late 1960s, Jean-Pierre, then an amateur footballer, met Bernadette at a dance. Bernadette said “I can’t hide the fact that it was very difficult for my family at the beginning. At the time, a black man and a white woman being together wasn’t well-regarded. But we began to live together and then decided to marry.” She still hopes one day her husband will be back from coma to give her the greatest gift of life.