How much pain can professional football take? Ivan Klasnic's story in the ARD documentary "Hirschhausen und der Schmerz" sheds a harsh light on the handling of medication and responsibility in top-class sport.
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- After three kidney transplants, Ivan Klasnic is living with the serious late effects of earlier mistreatment at Werder Bremen.
- A court awarded the Croatian former international 4.5 million euros in damages - compensation that does not, however, outweigh his suffering.
- Despite the strain on his health, Klasnic remains combative and is publicly life-affirming.
Ivan Klasnic is best known to most football fans from his time at Werder Bremen. The striker became German champion and DFB Cup winner with the Bundesliga club. In 2007, the Croatian received two kidney transplants - but Klasnic continued to play, making him the first professional footballer in the world to have a donor kidney. The now 45-year-old, who only ended his active career in 2013 despite the transplants, is now living with his third donor kidney.
His health problems were the result of incorrect medical treatment. According to a court ruling, the former doctors from his time at Werder are officially responsible for his kidney disease.
According to the court, the doctors should have recognized and treated the footballer's poor kidney values from May 2003. This had not happened. In the proceedings, two experts had identified a whole chain of errors in the treatment. These were the reason why the kidney function continuously deteriorated and finally failed.
Klasnic: "No professional sport without painkillers"
"Of course I'm angry. I wouldn't wish what I went through on anyone," says the 41-time Croatian international in an interview with doctor Eckart von Hirschhausen about his story.
The athlete was regularly given Voltaren and Diclofenac by the medical department to suppress his pain. "It's difficult to stop taking medication in order to perform. I believe that no professional sport can be done without painkillers. If I had known that I had problems, I wouldn't have taken the medication," says Klasnic in the ARD documentary "Hirschhausen und der Schmerz".
After twelve years of civil proceedings, Klasnic was finally awarded 4.5 million euros in damages. A small consolation for the health problems.
"Any money you get won't bring your health back," Klasnic sums up. "Who knows how long I'll live. You have to be grateful - even if I'm ill and have to take pills - that you can still live this life."
But Klasnic doesn't let it get him down. And he keeps his sense of humor, as a shot from the dressing room at a Werder legendary match shows.
