WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:
- Surgeon Leopoldo Luque, the doctor of the late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona, is being investigated for alleged involuntary manslaughter over his patient.
- Luque gave an emotional address, saying that he had done everything in his capacity to save Maradona, even though he was “unmanageable.”
- Maradona’s attorney also called for an investigation involving the delay of the ambulance that responded to the emergency call on the day of his death.
The doctor of Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona is being investigated for alleged involuntary manslaughter following the death of the soccer icon last Wednesday.
Surgeon Leopoldo Luque was being investigated by prosecutors as authorities break-in the doctor’s residence.
The prosecutors’ office said they have started evaluating the stuff gathered at Luque’s home, noting that “no decisions have been made at the moment regarding the procedural situation of any person.”
According to a source familiar with the incident, Maradona’s daughters ━ Dalma, Gianinna, and Jana ━ were concerned over the treatment received by their father for his heart ailment at his Tigre residences in Buenos Aires.
“Our investigations are ongoing, we are talking to witnesses including members of the family,” the source said.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one family member said: “The clinic had recommended that he go elsewhere to be hospitalized, but the family decided otherwise. His daughters signed for him to be discharged from the hospital.”
Luque, 39, appeared in a televised news conference and gave an emotional address on the same day later.
“You want to know what I am responsible for? For having loved him, for having taken care of him, for having extended his life, for having improved it to the end,” the surgeon said.
The doctor said that he did “everything he could, up to the impossible.” He even said that Maradona was a “friend” and like a “father” to him.
Describing Maradona’s case as “unmanageable,” Luque said that the 60-year-old football legend “should have gone to a rehabilitation center.”
Luque argued why there was no defibrillator in Maradona’s home, saying that such equipment should be present in case of a heart attack.
“I am a neurosurgeon,” Luque said, arguing that he was not accountable for Maradona’s home care.
“I am the person who has been taking care of him. I’m proud of everything I’ve done. I have nothing to hide. I am at the disposal of justice.”
Maradona’s attorney Matias Morla asked for an investigation on claims that ambulances reached his client’s house 30 minutes after getting the emergency call, while Luque said that there should be a prepared ambulance outside of Maradona’s home.
“A psychiatrist had asked that there should always be an ambulance in front of his house. I don’t know who is responsible for the fact that there was no ambulance,” Luque said.
Maradona, 60, passed away on Wednesday due to a heart attack. He was buried the following day at the Jardin de Paz cemetery.
Source: Yahoo! Sports
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