The man who was the first survivor found after the sad Chapecoense plane accident, Alan Ruschel, arrived at the club this Saturday and was greeted as a hero by hundreds of fans. His was the most motivating story of the whole accident, because the people who rescued him found him with a hip fracture but no nerve damage. This means that he will be able to play again if he desires to do so, he will recover for the next six months and then decide if he wants to play again.
At a media conference in Chapeco on Saturday, Ruschel said: "I don't have the words to explain what I'm feeling. It's a mixture of feelings, a great joy for being sitting here [in Chapeco] again, but at the same time a sadness for having lost many friends. I will honor their families who remain, who are feeling that pain today. I will do everything to return to play, with a lot of patience. I will do everything to give joy to [Chapecoense president] Plinio [David de Nes Filho], to the doctors, I will do everything to make all the people here happy.
"I calculated three months for the spine to calcify, one has already passed, so two more months, or one and a half, to strengthen the spine, and another three months to recover the mass. What I take from the lesson is to live life, enjoy life and do good. What the doctors did for me during those days cannot be explained. I hope to return and take the atmosphere from before into the dressing room for the next players to arrive."
Photo credit: Alan Ruschel