Copa Sudamericana
Surviving Chapecoense player Neto expected to play soccer again
Copa Sudamericana

Surviving Chapecoense player Neto expected to play soccer again

Published Feb. 26, 2017 9:21 p.m. ET

After the plane crash that tragically killed most of Chapecoense's players and much of the team’s staff, there are lingering questions about what the club’s future holds. But for one player who survived the crash, it looks like he could make a miraculous recovery. Helio Hermito Zampier Neto, a 31-year-old defender who was rescued from the crash site, is in stable condition and is expected to be able to play soccer again one day. "My son is getting better and better,” the player’s father shared on Facebook, according to reports. “He has just undergone surgery on his leg and doctors say he will return to football.” "We shall continue praying because we still need his discharge from hospital to see him closely." Neto was one of just six people – three of them players – to survive the plane crash that killed 71 people earlier this week. The former Santos centerback has been reported to be in stable condition after surgery on a lung, a knee, a wrist and his head. Another player, 24-year-old goalkeeper Jakson Ragnar Follmann, had his right leg amputated and surgery on his left leg. Defender Alan Ruschel, 27, had surgery on his spine, but he is still able to move, according to reports. The players were traveling with Chapecoense to the club's first-ever Copa Sudamericana final in Colombia against Atletico Nacional. The plane reportedly ran out of fuel and crashed into mountains outside of Medellin. MORE FROM FOX SOCCER:

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