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James Rodríguez Saved The Life Of A Rival Who Had A Cardiac Arrest

James Rodríguez is being praised as a hero in the Qatar Stars League after saving the life of a colleague on Jan. 8. The Colombian was playing for Al-Rayyan when Al-Wakrah defender Ousmane Coulibaly collapsed on the goal-line due to a cardiac arrest, just seconds after he sent the ball to a corner kick. 

James Rodríguez saves rival's life in Qatar

Reports say while everybody was panicking, Rodríguez ran to Coulibaly and performed a life-saving maneuver. The phrase is not an oversell — the doctors who took care of Coulibaly in the stadium applauded his intervention.

"James helped by adjusting his rival’s head so that he could breathe properly," said Al-Wakrah's doctor, Mukhtar Shabaan, on Wednesday.

Seconds after, the medical team arrived at the scene, continued the treatment and took Coulibaly to the hospital, where he is now out of danger. 

In an emotional post on Instagram, Coulibaly's wife, Aurélie, thanked everybody for keeping her husband alive.

"Ousmane is in stable condition due to his heart attack. He regains consciousness slowly but surely," she wrote. 

The game was rightly suspended when Al-Rayyan was in front 1-0, thanks to one Rodriguez assist. 

On Monday, actions resumed with a ceremony in honor of Coulibaly and the doctors who saved his life. Rodríguez? He scored twice, including a sublime free kick, in a 3-0 win.

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