Sad Day For Paraguay and The Footballing World

Paraguay international Salvador Cabanas is in critical condition after doctors failed to remove a bullet that was lodged inside of his head after he was shot in a Mexico City bar earlier today.

Cabanas was rushed to Los Angeles Pedregal Hospital after the shooting where he underwent emergency surgery under the care of Dr. Ernesto Martinez.

Dr. Martinez held a press conference moments ago to update the public on the Club America striker’s current condition.

"Cabanas arrived in a critical condition with a severe trauma to the cranium. We managed to put him under control but there was also a skin lesion, a clot inside his head," said Martinez.

"We operated on his cranium and stopped the bleeding and the clotting and the brain is in a stable condition.”

Dr. Martinez went on to state that although he was successful in his attempt to stop the clotting, Cabanas’ condition was still grave and that he had a long fight ahead of him.

"The problem of the blood clot has been solved but the gravity of the situation is not over. He is sedated and needs several days before we can withdraw the anaesthesia.

We can not talk about predictions or consequences. We can only hope that his situation remains favourable. Injuries of this type are unclear.

We do not know what kind of consequences the patient may have. That will depend on his progress," he said. Dr. Martinez then stated that the surgery had lasted about seven hours and confirmed that a bullet was still lodged in Cabanas' brain.

"The bullet is not removed. It is in the back of the brain, we would do more damage if we tried to extract it," he said. We cannot assure you that he is out of danger. If he had not been attended to immediately, he would not have survived. He is young and healthy, that helps.

"He arrived at 6 am, we prepared everything and operated on him. The operation began at half past 7 and we finished about 40 minutes ago, meaning the surgery lasted about seven hours."

Dr. Martinez concluded the press conference by stating that he might have to perform a second operation on Cabanas.

"We might have to operate again because we do not know if it will start bleeding. The bullet has not been removed, but his life is of our utmost concern."

"Now, we can only wait. We do not know if he can return to a normal life," he concluded.

This is terrible news for not just Paraguay but the footballing world as a whole.

Cabanas will not be playing in the 2010 World Cup.

Source: Goal.com