Diego Maradona’s lawyer slams idol’s hospital care before death with ambulance ‘taking 30 minutes to arrive’
DIEGO MARADONA’S long-term doctor and lawyer have criticised the Argentina legend’s care in the run-up to his death.
The ambulance called after the discovery of the 60-year-old’s body took half an hour to arrive, lawyer Matias Morla has claimed.
A stinging statement released on Thursday pointed the finger at ‘criminal idiocy’ in Maradona’s treatment.
Morla tweeted: “Today is a day of deep pain, sadness and reflection.
“I feel in my heart the departure of a friend whom I honoured with my loyalty and companionship until his last days. I made my farewell with him in person and the wake should be an intimate occasion.
“It is inexplicable that for 12 hours my friend has not had attention or control from the legal health personnel.
“The ambulance took more than half an hour to arrive, which was CRIMINAL IDIOCY.
“This fact should not be overlooked and I am going to ask that the consequences be investigated until the end. As Diego said, ‘You are my soldier, act without mercy’.”
MAD MEDIC
Maradona’s long-term doctor Alfredo Cahe has also questioned the decision to move the Argentina icon from hospital on November 11 following his brain operation.
The World Cup winner died in a rented house north of Buenos Aires on Wednesday after suffering heart failure.
Cahe was Maradona’s doctor for more than 30 years and the man behind the decision to take him to Cuba in January 2000 to treat his cocaine addiction.
He told Argentine news show Telefe Noticias: “Diego wasn’t looked after as he should have been.
“He should have been kept in hospital, not taken to a house which wasn’t properly prepared.
“I’m in a state of complete shock. I’ve had so many ups and downs with Diego for 33 years and he’s just died in an unusual way.
When he left hospital it didn’t seem logical to me. He should have stayed in a place with a good infrastructure.
Alfredo Cahe
“I have a lot of doubts. I don’t know why he was taken to that house.
“When he left hospital it didn’t seem logical to me. He should have stayed in a place with a good infrastructure, like when we took him to Cuba.”
Cahe, the doctor who confirmed Maradona had become a father again for the fifth time in February 2013 when his then-girlfriend Veronica Ojeda gave birth to Diego Fernando, visited him while he was at Clinica Olivos on the outskirts of Buenos Aires following his recent op for a bleed on the brain.
But he was unable to have a proper conversation with the Napoli hero because of the medication he was on.
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He added: “A woman close to him told me Diego had told her that he was deeply distressed. And that he felt he had done everything in life.”
Diego’s current personal physician is Leopoldo Luque, who published the first photo of the ex-midfielder in hospital after his operation – just hours before he left for the house where he died.
His visitors since his release had included youngest son Diego Fernando, whose mum posted a touching photo on social media of the former footballer alongside the youngster and a message that read: “I missed you a lot daddy.”
The photo was the first of the former Barcelona star after his release from hospital, and turned out to be the last following his untimely death at the age of just 60.