Every death is a tragedy, but sometimes its icy touch leaves everybody numb and searching for answers. The passing away of El Jaish’s Ecuadorian player Christian “Chucho” Benitez in Qatar on Monday was one more instance of a footballer cruelly snatched away in his prime by fate for reasons that are scientifically difficult to comprehend at this stage despite the advances made in medicine.
Benitez, whose nickname “Chucho” means “God Saves”, and who signed for El Jaish less than a month ago, died of heart failure a few hours after figuring as a substitute for 10 minutes in a Sheikh Jassim Cup match for his team on Sunday night. The hospital where he was taken to after he complained of stomach pain confirmed heart-attack as the cause of his death, but offered little clue as to what might have triggered it.
Did he have a heart defect that doctors might have missed during the several medicals he must have undergone? Had it something to do with the heat or the humidity in Qatar? Was he suffering from any form of stress or anxiety having moved from his comfort zone of South and Central America where he enjoyed tremendous success?
The answers to these questions may take a while coming, if they come at all, but what is important is that more research needs to be done into this aspect of sports medicine. Benitez, after all, was a supremely fit athlete used to the rigours of high-pressure action on a football field almost on a daily basis, if you also consider the gruelling training methods employed by teams these days as they chase glory.
But we would only serve to dehumanise the tragedy by viewing it from a totally scientific angle. Benitez, after all, was a young man of 27, a father of four-year-old twins, a husband and a son. His family is struggling to cope with the tragedy. Even in Mexico, where he played as a professional for Club America, people in their hundreds wept as they attended church services to mourn his death.
El Jaish, to their credit, reacted with compassion and sympathy as was expected of them. Though they initially appeared confused and rattled as to how to deal with the tragedy, they later issued statement about how devastated everybody at the club was on the player’s untimely death and made arrangements to meet with his family and pay for a private aircraft to repatriate his body to Ecuador.
“Since Ecuadorian star Benitez passed away on Monday morning in a sudden way, sadness and sorrow prevailed over the club especially that he had joined El Jaish only a few days ago,” an El Jaish statement said. “El Jaish Sports Club management assures again its endless support to Christian’s family and are standing by their side during this hard time,” the statement added.
The club will also organise a ceremony to honour the player during El Jaish’s match against Al Shahaniya in the Sheikh Jassim Cup today.
Sport is a great leveler, it is said, because a thumping victory on the field could be often followed by a morale-shattering loss within a span of a few days. What about death, then? If only Benitez’s family could derive some comfort from this famous quote by A. Sachs: “Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.”
Rest in peace, Chucho.