Hélio Hermito Zampier Neto, more commonly known as Neto, was one of just six people to survive the LaMia Flight 2933 that crashed into a mountainside in Colombia on Nov 28. The plane’s tail allegedly clipped the top of a mountain and broke off as it approached José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro. The crash killed 71 people on board, including 19 of Neto’s Chapecoense soccer teammates.
Neto miraculously survived the crash but had been in a coma for two weeks after the tragedy. According to ABC News, upon gaining consciousness, the 31-year-old asked who won the final of the Copa Sudamericana and why he was unable to play, team doctor Edson Stakonski said.Doctors and psychologists at the hospital are withholding information about the crash from Neto until he is stable.
Defender Alan Ruschel and reserve goalie Jackson Follmann are the only other two Chapecoense who survived the crash. They are returning to Brazil today but Neto remains in San Vicente Foundation Hospital in Rionegro due to his condition.
It is going to be excruciating for Neto to hear that 19 of his teammates and brothers perished in the horrific crash but to add insult to injury, the surviving members of the team have reportedly been fined $30,000 for missing their final match of the season.