Nottingham Forest Striker Awoniyi In Induced Coma After Surgery On Near-fatal Abdominal Injury

Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest player, Taiwo Awoniyi, has been induced into coma and was receiving intensive care following ‘urgent’ surgery on a serious abdominal injury, which Mail Sport revealed could have been life-threatening.

The Nottingham Forest striker crashed into a post during last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Leicester and following several minutes of treatment, returned to action before being eventually taken off the pitch.

Forest confirmed on Tuesday that the 27-year-old underwent urgent surgery after the extent of the injury was confirmed on Monday and he was rushed to hospital.

It has been reported that the initial signs were that the surgery was a success. In what is a complex medical process, doctors were expecting to complete the operation on Tuesday.

The injury was of a nature which, in some cases, can be fatal. Forest, however, said that the striker was ‘recovering well’.

The club accompanied that update with an attack on their own medical staff and those — including Sky Sports’ Gary Neville — who criticised club owner Evangelos Marinakis for entering the field and appearing to remonstrate with boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

Awoniyi could not be substituted because Forest had used their last available switch to replace Elliot Anderson with Jota Silva during the Sunday derby. The Nigerian forward tried to carry on, but was unable to move properly as Forest chased a late winner, which would have boosted their Champions League qualification hopes.