"A living corpse" German sports presenter narrowly escapes death after brain surgery
A brain operation completely changed the life of German sports presenter Monica Lierhaus. Now the 55-year-old tells in a podcast how she fought her way back to life.
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- "I couldn't do anything," says Monica Lierhaus looking back.
- In January 2009, the sports presenter was in an induced coma for four months following brain surgery.
- "I was like a living corpse," says the 55-year-old in the podcast "Wie geht's?" by German national soccer player Robin Gosens.
TV presenter Monica Lierhaus was known throughout Germany as the figurehead of the "ARD-Sportschau". The shock was all the greater when it was announced in 2009 that she had been placed in an induced coma.
Shortly beforehand, a brain aneurysm, a bulge in an artery, had been discovered by chance. Complications arose during the operation. As a result, Lierhaus suffered severe cerebral bleeding.
In the podcast "Wie geht's?" by German national football player Robin Gosens, the current RTL presenter talks about her time in a coma, helplessness and a body that no longer wanted to obey.
Lierhaus wanted to leave rehab on her own two feet
Her family had already been told to say goodbye to her at the time, says Monica Lierhaus in the podcast. She was then in a coma for four months.
This was followed by eight months of rehabilitation to train her impaired ability to speak and move. "At first, you feel trapped in a body that no longer works," says the 55-year-old.
But she soon realized that she wanted to get out of it again. And as quickly as possible. "I wanted to get out of rehab on my own two feet, which I managed to do."
Lierhaus: "I was stared at"
Monica Lierhaus describes her time in the rehab clinic as terrible: "I was stared at as if I was a monster. It was a disaster."
The siege of paparazzi photographers was particularly bad at the time. That's why she decided to make her first public appearance at the Golden Camera 2011. Monica Lierhaus wanted to show: "This is who I am now. Take me or leave me."
Despite all the adversity, the TV presenter didn't let it get her down - and fought her way back into professional life. In recent years, Monica Lierhaus has worked for pay-TV channel Sky, among others, and has been part of the sports team at RTL Aktuell since 2023.
However, she still has to live with some limitations. "My sense of balance is so severely impaired that I can't walk up stairs without a handrail. And if there's a staircase without a handrail, I can't go up it."
