Maradona bloated, bedridden and resigned before death, says icon's masseur

Diego Maradona was bedridden, suffering from oedema, and appeared resigned to his fate in his final days, according to the testimony of the football legend's masseur at the trial into the circumstances of his death in 2020.

Maradona "wouldn't get out of bed, he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to wash, he didn't want to look after his personal hygiene," Nicolás Taffarel testified on Thursday. 

He claimed that at the time he had alerted the 1986 World Cup winner's medical team that they should be more present and visit "every day," as heard in an audio message played in court.

Seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since mid-April in Argentina for potential negligence that may have contributed to the football icon's death.

"I reported the issues I observed with him, but I saw no concrete action or swift resolution," added the masseur, on the verge of tears as he spoke of Maradona.

"He was bloated, his legs were swollen...," Taffarel recounted.

"The doctors told me to calm down, that these symptoms would pass. When you're anxious, you put your trust in them; you tell yourself it will pass, that everything will sort itself out. But it didn't pass."

On November 24, the day before Maradona's death, Taffarel told how he tried in vain to persuade him to come round and drink mate.

"He said to me: 'I don't want anything, Taffita, that's it.' I asked him: 'What do you mean, that's it?' and he replied: 'Nothing, that's it,'" he said, quoting Maradona's ambiguous words – "ya esta" can be understood as "it's all right" or "it's over."

Maradona died alone in bed the following day at the age of 60 of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after undergoing surgery.

The defendants, who face up to 25 years in prison, deny any responsibility.

Most of them cite their specialism and their limited role, which had no direct link to the clinical causes of death, as grounds for their defence.

The trial could run beyond August.

– TIMES/AFP