THE BODY of late Trinidad and Tobago footballer Akeem Adams is expected to be flown back home next week, and his funeral likely to take place within two weeks.
Adams died on Monday, two days after suffering a massive stroke while in a heart clinic in Budapest, Hungary where he was based. Adams initially suffered a heart attack on September 25, and was fighting to recover for the past three months, prior to the stroke.
“The club (Ferencvárosi TC) is handling all the financial arrangements for his body to be flown back home,” Adams’ local agent Dion Sosa confirmed yesterday.
Sosa said there was some delay because everything in Hungary, where Adams was based, is shut down as the New Year approaches. Until then, Adams’ mother Ancilla Adams is arranging the paperwork to have his body moved from the hospital to the morgue. When Ancilla arrives in T&T, Adams’ family is expected to hold a media conference to announce firm plans for the funeral.
“If everything is done by Monday, then the body should be back home by Wednesday, Thursday,” Sosa said. “The funeral should be the following week, after we have had time to have a wake and so on.”
Meanwhile, the football fraternity continues to express condolences on Adams’ passing. Among them, Trinidad and Tobago senior national goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams, and the Veteran Footballers Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (VFFOTT).
Williams, the starting goalkeeper on the Trinidad and Tobago senior team, had a long association with Adams, having played alongside him for both local pro club W Connection and the senior national team, where both players were members of the failed Brazil 2014 World Cup campaign. Both last played together in 2011 against Finland.
“He was a nice, nice person,” Williams said. “He could make you laugh. He was a real humble person...never cocky.”
Williams said that Adams initial heart-attack on September 25 has been a great shocker to him, since they had been through thorough medical scrutiny and with no indication that Adams was sick in any way. Williams was understandably sad about Akeem’s death, but philosophical.
“I do not like to see people suffer,” Williams said. He added that perhaps Akeem’s death must be accepted as God’s will. The local veteran football association, through its PRO Gwenwyn Cust, also expressed condolences at Adams’ passing.
“Akeem displayed great courage and optimism in the face of severe adversity and will long be remembered for these characteristics. We salute a brave and courageous young man with the “Heart Of A Warrior,” the veteran footballers said.
“The TTFA (Trinidad and Tobago Football Association) must make every effort to support the family in their time of grief and mourning. We at VFFOTT pray for comfort and strength in the family’s time of need.”