"Faith Versus Medication" (The Tragic Death Of Raphael Dwamena)
Raphael Dwamena, a former Ghanaian international football player, passed away on Saturday, 11th Nov., after passing out during an Albanian Superiore match
Raphael was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana, 28 years ago, and like most Ghanaian children, he was enamored with the round leather game of football.
When he joined the Red Bull Ghana Under 17 squad, he was given the chance to live out his goal.
He participated in the "Red Bull Ghana Developmental Program" in 2013, in Croix, France, with the RB Ghana U-17 team, where he helped his team win the silver medal.
After winning the title of best player of the competition, he was able to join the Under-18 club at FC Salzburg in Austria, where he went on to win the Golden Boot in his debut season.
He had undeniable talent.
He was moved to the first team to play football for FC Liefering, the Salzburg farmer team, a year later. After having a spectacular season, scoring 18 goals in 20 games, he was traded to FC Zurich, a team in the Swiss League.
A Premier League squad became interested in him as he carried on with his goal-scoring prowess for the Swiss squad, as he scored 12 goals in 18 games.
Raphael's medical was unsuccessful, despite FC Zurich and Brighton, an English Premier League team, having reached an agreement on August 21, 2017.
After his return to Zurich, he signed a four-year contract with Spanish team Levante UD the next year.
While Levante loaned him to Real Zaragoza, it was found in 2019 that he had a cardiac condition known as "VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIA" following additional testing.
His immediate withdrawal and was were advised by the physicians to retirement from football.
An "IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER-DEFIBRILLATOR (ICD)" was inserted.
An ICD is a device that rapidly shocks the heart with electricity when it senses a potentially fatally fast heartbeat.
The shock changes the heartbeat to normal and saves the patient.
However, he continued to play despite the doctors' recommendations, as he would often say in his videos, "There's nothing impossible with God."
He participated in the Danish league, in 2020, but his ICD implant detected some elevated readings prior to a game, preventing him from finishing the season.
Raphael left the team after that game, but he didn't want to hang up his boots and went back to Austria.
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