Not quite ready to give up soccer
Carl Erik Torp is hoping to make a comeback on a Division 2 soccer team in the future.
Today, it has been exactly one month since Carl-Erik Torp went into cardiac arrest during the league match between Sogndal and the Bergen Brann.
Since then, Torp has had a defibrillator implanted at Haukeland University Hospital
In connection with the operation, Brann physician Ove Austgulen said that the AED will most likely not be compatible with playing soccer.
“It is likely that his career is over,” said Austgulen to NRK.
Now Torp himself has thoughts of a comeback.
In an interview with Dagbladet, the 27-year-old said that he feels less and less pain, but that he is also frustrated that he can not play soccer.
“I see myself playing a bit in the 2nd Division and playing futsal. If I feel something is risky, I will not do it. But I will definitely be active for life,” said Torp to the newspaper.
“If I can play in a club where I can say, “Now I must walk for five minutes” when I get really tired, without a crisis, it is something I want. I would not be allowed to do such things with the Brann,” he continued.
The athletic director for the Brann, Roald Bruun-Hanssen, wishes Torp good luck.
“Now Carl-Erik is in a rehabilitation phase, and when he gets out of it, he must adjust to a new life. That he wants to try the field again, I think can only be good,” Bruun-Hanssen told NRK. “It’s great to hear that he is aggressive with respect to his own situation.”
Torp said he would like to play in the 2nd division, and next year the Brann will have a brand-new secondary team at precisely this level.
Bruun-Hanssen is unsure if the club will let Torp play on the B team.
“This is a new situation for both us and him, and we’ll see how this evolves with time,” said Bruun-Hanssen.
Jan Erik Nordrehaug, professor of the cardiac ward at Haukeland, had previously told NRK that there may be opportunities to get back to top level sports after cardiac arrest.
“But if it goes so far that one gets a defibrillator implanted, it is not longer compatible with elite sport,” said Nordrehaug to NRK before it became clear that Torp had have the defibrillator.
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