Erik Crepaldi (Instagram)
From coma to return to the tennis courts: the story of Erik Crepaldi
Erik Crepaldi is back to tennis. After 14 months of suffering and struggle (he ended up in a coma in September 2021 due to a terrible road accident), the 32-year-old champion from Vercelli he played an official match and contributed to his team’s 6-0 victory Coach Jerseys on the sixth day of the Serie A2 championship, against Tc Baratoff. An exciting story, full of desire to never give up. “At the beginning of the match I was very tense, then I relaxed but at 6-3 5-2 I started to feel my legs shaking, my throat started to tighten, my eyes filled with tears. There I felt I had fulfilled the desire cradled ever since I woke up from the coma. In an instant I relived the entire journey: me on the bed in neurology, then when I tried to walk without success, plus many other steps. It was my turn to serve, I took a break zero (laughs, ed), but we closed shortly after. Everyone entered the field for a collective hug: teammates, managers, opponents. I didn’t do it alone, we all did it: me, my Federica girl, my family and the people who have made me feel enormous affection for months,” said Erik Crepaldi.
Crepaldi said he doesn’t remember anything about the accident. “For me it is as if it had never happened. So I have no psychological trauma or even physical consequences. Inside of me I had the certainty of being able to recover one hundred percent, and this helped me to face the most complicated moments with a smile”. And in the end the doctors gave him the go-ahead: “They told me it was as if nothing ever happened – he continues -, so to do what I wanted”.
Erik Crepaldi works to get back to one hundred percent of his physical and technical condition after inactivity. «I don’t know how to quantify my current level, but I have recently resumed training at my best and I want to go back to competing full-time. I’m also attending the Fit course to become a teacher, but I’ll think about teaching later. I still want to be a tennis player.”
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