Heroes in sport: remembering how Slovan Bratislava midfielder Jaba Kankava saved his opponent’s life nine years ago!

On this day nine years ago, a hero was born on the football field. During a match in the top Ukrainian league between Dnipro and Dynamo Kiev, Oleg Gusev’s tongue got stuck in his throat. Opposite player Jaba Kankava did not hesitate for a second and saved the captain of the Kiev team’s life.

Heroes are not only in action movies or in professions that deal with people on the brink of life and death on a daily basis. Many heroes also come from ordinary people who have no experience in saving lives.

One such hero is footballer Jaba Kankava, who currently wears the jersey of Slovan Bratislava. The Georgian midfielder played in 2014 in the Ukrainian top league for the Dnipro team.

The latter featured in the 23rd round of the Premier League against Dynamo Kyiv in a home match on 30 March 2014. With the score tied, the 22nd minute was running and the captain of the Kiev club Oleg Gusev was charging at a long centre into the opponent’s penalty area.

However, Gusev, who was tracking the ball, unfortunately collided with the home side’s running goalkeeper, who unluckily hit him in the head with his knee. The Dynamo Kiev captain slumped to the ground after the unfortunate tackle, where he fell unconscious.

And it was Jaba Kankava, who was closest to the situation, who kept his cool and started to wrestle Gusev’s lifeless body with a lightning reaction. In the end, he probably managed to save his life when he was able to pull out the embedded tongue in his throat with the help of other players.

Gusev began gasping for breath at that point and regained consciousness before the paramedics could reach him. Fortunately, the Kiev captain escaped with “only” knocked-out teeth and a concussion.

But he was very lucky that Kankava was on the pitch and showed a really lightning fast reaction. For his courageous act, the footballer was awarded the Order of Merit by the Ukrainian club and we are honoured to be able to bring his story to you, our readers.

Source: Daily Mail, Wikipedia, Eurofootball, Twitter