Ivan Klasnic Returns

By: chris | November 25th, 2007

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In today’s day and age money, sex tapes, refereeing scandals and anything involving England dominate the front pages of print, relegating the feel-good stories to page 3 status, and often going unheard by the masses. Well this one’s going front page.

Ivan Klasnic returned to Werder Bremen on Saturday. Ivan started, didn’t score, was subbed off after 64 minutes with Werder winning the game, but none of that matters. All that matters is he physically took one step past the touchline onto green grass. This being his first league game since December 17th, 2006, and first since receiving two kidney transplants in two months.

A couple year’s ago it was discovered Ivan was afflicted with a rare kidney disorder, one which at the time doctors felt could be treated without drastic measures. Ivan went through the routine, heeding the doctors’ advice, playing as planned for Werder Bremen, and even for Croatia in the 2006 World Cup. Living as much of a normal footballer’s life as he could. Then it came crashing down. In January Ivan’s kidney went into failure, jeopardizing both his career and life. Soon afterwards he received a new kidney from his mother, Sima. It didn’t take long before his body rejected the kidney, one of the greatest risks of transplants, and Ivan was in need of yet another kidney. This time it was his father, and on March 23rd, he had his second transplant in less than 2 months. Thankfully, it took. Ivan could jump on the long, arduous road that is recovery.

Many people who have had any type of transplant will tell you that it isn’t the actual transplant itself which is most dangerous and difficult: it’s the aftermath. The risk of rejection, infection, and various other conditions, while dealing with the agonizing pain, and eventually, the rehabilitation. Taking some years to complete. Then there are the mental and emotional difficulties which come packaged with the operation. The spine-tingling nerves while waiting to see if their lives can continue as planned. In short, it is one of the most difficult operations a person can endure, professional athlete or not.

Luckily, recovery for kidneys is typically short for normal people. Of course, football isn’t normal, and neither is Ivan, by any means. Few can appreciate personally the heights to which Ivan was attempting a return. He’s a striker on one of the Bundesliga’s best teams, a regular for Croatia in the same respect, and a player with enough talent that he had three countries vying for his services before his first international cap - including the great Mannschaft, the place of his birth. His road back was not paved but rocky terrain up a steep mountain. A few weeks ago he took part in a cup game against a second division side with the reserve team, nearly the top. Saturday, he took the summit.

Ivan has much more to worry about later on, namely how long his kidney will last, but right now, he is still a professional athlete, and that, to me, transcends ‘feel-good’. It’s nothing short of amazing.