TIL that at the first ever World Cup in Uruguay, an American trainer ran into the field to help an injured player. He threw down his medical bag and accidentally broke a bottle of chloroform that was inside, knocking himself out on the pitch. He had to be stretchered off.

2 Comments

1. As much as I love fun stories about football, I’m hugely dubious about this one.

   That’s really not how choloroform works, you can’t pass out just by spilling some of it, you’d need to be directly inhaling it through a rag for several minutes.

   Even if you spilled some in an unventilated room, it’s unlikely to make you pass out. In an open air football stadium? There’s just no way imo.

   All the sources I’ve found for this are vague at best and it sounds like this is just one of those myths that has been perpetuated.

   Edit: Also, come to think of it, there are no reasons whatsoever a sports medic would have needed choloroform in his bag.

   Edit 2: Looking into it even more, doesn’t even seem to mention it on his biography here: https://www.ussoccerhistory.org/national-soccer-hall-of-fame-biographies/national-soccer-hall-of-fame-player-biographies/john-jack-coll/

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2. That’s the sort of thing you don’t get to live down, I can imagine his friends were poking fun at that for the rest of his life because y’know it’s hilarious

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