David Ginola Illness: Updates on Former French Star's Status and Recovery

Former France international and Newcastle United star David Ginola was taken to a hospital in Monaco with an unknown illness on May 19, having collapsed while playing football, per the Mirror. He has awoken from surgery.

Continue for updates.  

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Ginola Comments on Recovery

Friday, May 20

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Ginola Undergoes Successful Surgery

Friday, May 20

"He was unconscious and [remembers] nothing, but he is good, I was able to speak with him," surgeon Gilles Dreyfus told Nice Matin, per Get French Football News. "He has no neurological sequelae. He did not have an infarction. But he did have very complicated coronary lesions which forced us to perform a quadruple bypass."

Commenting on Ginola's collapse and recovery, Dreyfus told BBC Sport: "It was a sequence of events that at every stage went absolutely fine, that is why he is here today. Luckier you can't be. It's an unbelievable story."

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Ginola Reportedly Went into Coma

Thursday, May 19

Citing a report from L'Equipe, B/R's Jonathan Johnson passed along word that Ginola went into a coma, having seemingly confirmed via Twitter he suffered his illness while playing a match of football: "Footy match in the midday sun, not very clever. Now having some tests done. Whoever voted for a World Cup in Qatar in the summer?"

Ginola played in the Premier League between 1995 and 2002, playing for Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton before announcing his retirement. The flamboyant winger was always a fan favourite thanks to his remarkable creativity and touch. 

He moved into acting after his playing career, appearing in shows such as Chop Shop and The Young and the Restless. In 2015, he challenged Sepp Blatter for FIFA's presidency, but his bid lasted just a few weeks, as he didn't receive the necessary nominations, per Owen Gibson of the Guardian.