Heart patient Ginola turns away ‘ lovechild’ from his hospital bed
FORMER Premier League football star David Ginola turned away his alleged lovechild after she rushed to his hospital bedside as he recovers from a quadruple heart bypass operation.
The BBC football pundit, 49, has been in a coma since he collapsed while playing football on Thursday. He had six hours of heart surgery after doctors said he arrived in a ‘catastrophic state’.
On hearing the news, Joy Pinquier, 23, who claims she is the star’s daughter from an alleged affair, went to the Hospital Princess Grace of Monaco to see him.
But she was turned away ‘in floods of tears’ yesterday when the star reportedly told medical staff at the hospital that he did not wish to see her.
Miss Pinquier’s mother Joelle claims the sportsman is her father as a result of an affair in 1991. That year he married wife Caroline and the couple have a son Andrea, who is eight months younger than Joy. They also have a daughter.
In 2010 the former Tottenham and Newcastle United winger faced a court summons for ‘abandoning his family’ after Miss Pinquier he had not handed over support payments for Joy.
But criminal proceedings were dropped after he paid the full amount of £30,000 in child support.
Ginola is said to have fallen unconscious on a football pitch after was attending a celebrity golf tournament in Mandelieu on the French Riviera.
After his operation, a tweet from Ginola’s account read: ‘Hello world, never slept better. I’m fine, just need to rest a bit. Thank you so much all of you for your magnificent support.’
DAVID GINOLA is lucky to be alive and recovering in a French hospital after having an emergency six- hour quadruple heart bypass.
It emerged yesterday that the former Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Aston Villa winger had been close to death after collapsing while playing football with friends in Mandelieu near Cannes.
A post from his Twitter account on Thursday night had downplayed the severity of his condition, as did another after surgery yesterday morning.
But his surgeon, Gilles Dreyfus, has revealed the true seriousness of what unfolded, saying the 49-year- old could have been left brain dead or worse after crumpling to the ground during an informal game in the afternoon heat.
Ginola needed to be shocked four times with a defibrillator before being airlifted to the Monaco hospital where he had the operation.
Dreyfus, professor of cardiac surgery at the Monaco Heart Centre, said Ginola was lucky to be alive but confirmed the Frenchman is conscious.
He said: ‘He played a charity game. He collapsed and people thought it was a joke but after one or two minutes somebody realised it was serious.
‘Fortunately there was one person who had been trained in CPR, otherwise he would have been brain dead. They then called the emergency services, and they arrived eight minutes later with him in cardiac arrest.
‘He was shocked four times on site, they were able to restore a normal heart rhythm.
‘A helicopter transferred him to Monaco Heart Centre. He immediately underwent a quadruple heart bypass.
‘He woke normally with no neurological damage and is now recovering like anybody would normally do. Luckier you can’t be. It’s an unbelievable story.’
Reports from France on Thursday night said Ginola was in a coma, though a misleading post from his Twitter account eased fears. Another yesterday morning read: ‘Hello world, never slept better. I’m fine, just need to rest. Thanks so much all of you for your magnificent support.’
The Frenchman, who spent seven years in the Premier League and was PFA Player of the Year in 1999, is expected to spend 10 days in hospital.