Former footballer Jean-Pierre Adams dies following 39-year coma

Photos: Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams: The greatest untold love story
Jean-Pierre Adams: a life in pictures – Jean-Pierre Adams is a former France international who had spent the last 39 years in a coma.
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Photos: Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams: The greatest untold love story
Happier Times – He went into the coma on March 17, 1982 after a routine operation went wrong.
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Photos: Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams: The greatest untold love story
Papal Blessing – Hidden in the darkness, Jean-Pierre meets Pope Pius XII shortly after being taken to Europe by his grandmother from Senegal. The picture is from a scrapbook that Bernadette still holds.
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Photos: Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams: The greatest untold love story
The Adams Family – Jean-Pierre and Bernadette celebrate the birth of son Laurent in 1969. Their eldest son, who now lives in Corsica, was 11 when his father's accident occurred.
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Photos: Jean-Pierre and Bernadette Adams: The greatest untold love story
Seventies Style – Jean-Pierre and son Laurent in happier times. One of Bernadette's regrets is the absence of a father figure during her sons' upbringing and her inability to watch their sporting progress. "The accident certainly changed their lives. I didn't always follow Laurent's football, since I couldn't travel. He would go with the neighbors. The youngest did judo and from time to time, I went to watch him compete -- whenever I could -- but it wasn't often."