Jean-Pierre Adams has died at 73 after spending 39 years in a coma.
Adams slipped into a deep coma when he was 34 in 1982, following an anesthesia error during a routine knee operation at Lyon Hospital.
He was reported to have been in “great shape” before the surgery and was expected to wake up after only a few hours.
But Adams remained in the coma for 39 years.
He was pronounced dead on Monday at the Nimes University Hospital.
The 73-year-old was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1948 and went on to play 22 times for the France national team from 1972 to 1976.
He also made 41 appearances for Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain, although spent the majority of his career playing at Nice.