A 19-year-old footballer has died suddenly after suffering from a mystery illness for months.
Luca Manolache tragically called his mum in his final moments, and expressed concern that he may be dying.
According to the autopsy verdict, the cause of death of the young man was that he drowned in his own stomach acid.
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He vomited blood profusely and also suffered pre-infarction and his aorta ruptured triggering an internal haemorrhage.
His mum, Ana Maria Manolache, and his dad Viorel, have been left utterly devastated over their son’s tragic passing.
The former FCSB – previously known as Steaua Bucharest – and Dinamo player was very dedicated to football, and never liked to miss a single game.
On 28 February, he began feeling severely unwell whilst out with a family member, Ana’s godson, who called an ambulance.
Ana told local press that her son called her whilst she was in Bucharest, Romania, where she works.
As his condition worsened, in the brief phone call, Luca was fearful and said ‘Mum, Mum, I can’t do it anymore’.
He then proceeded to ask her, ‘Do you think I’m dying?’.
Whilst in the ambulance, Luca began to complain that his vision disappeared, and that he couldn’t see anything.
Ana rushed to be with her son who was transported to the County Hospital in Târgoviște, Romania.
She unfortunately did not make it there in time, and Luca’s sister called her to tell her that he had passed away.
Despite vomiting large amounts of blood, doctors worked hard to save his life however his body began to negatively react with his stomach acid, causing him to drown.
Doctors told Ana that the circumstances of her son’s death were extremely rare.
Luca was a midfielder for Metaloglobus București, but hadn’t played a single match since August 2024.
He was forced to stop playing due to a series of incidents which saw him suffer from prolonged fatigue, dizziness, chills, and bloody stools.
The team and his parents began noticing that he was struggling to get through even just half of a football match.
His football coach began to believe that he wasn’t preparing properly for his football games.
One match even resulted in an ambulance being called as Luca complained that his vision had become black, and that he felt weak.
He would have convulsions and a high temperature, but x-rays of his lungs and blood tests all came back normal.
A physical test which he had showed that he could only run on a treadmill for 10 minutes, and after stopping he immediately started to shake and had a fever.
Doctors presumed that Luca must have a strong infection in the body, and so they administered him doxycycline, paracetamol and pain medication, algocalmin.
Luca took these tablets for a short time, and further repeated tests on his lungs, heart and gallbladder came back clear.
One medical episode saw him spend two weeks in hospital after being taken in as an emergency.
A doctor found that he had some peripheral blood vessels in his lungs however this was not seen as a serious issue.
He had injections and took some medication to prevent his blood from clotting, a treatment which he had for six months.
During this time, he was prohibited from exercise and his parents even took him to private clinics so he could be examined.
His death came suddenly, shocking his relatives but also his teammates who he played football with.
Metaloglobus București shared an emotional post on their Instagram just days ago in tribute to Luca, as reported by Need To Know.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” they wrote.
“His love for football and his smile brought happiness on the field.
“The last appearance in the Metaloglobus shirt was on August 24, 2024, in the match against CS Afumati, playing 10 minutes from the reserve position.
“Following the game against CS Afumati, the player complained of fatigue during training, which led the technical staff to stop him from training and recommend thorough medical examinations.
“Rest in peace dear ‘Mano’.
“Sincere condolences to the grieving family, the entire Metaloglobus family is with you in these devastating moments.”
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