Bryan Dabo recalls the terrible moments following Davide Astori’s death

Former Fiorentina midfielder Bryan Dabo, in an interview with the Addict O Foot podcast, recalled the terrible moments following the death of his captain, Davide Astori, who suffered a fatal heart attack while sleeping in his hotel room, the night before the match against Udinese in March 2018.

The tragedy deeply affected the French player, who had recently joined the Viola. “We went to have breakfast—he was usually the first in line—but this time he wasn’t there. Someone asked, ‘Where’s Davide?’ We didn’t know, so we went back to our rooms.”

“I was taking a nap when I heard the ambulance and police sirens. Stefano Pioli opened my door, and I saw him in tears. Next to him was Cyril Théreau, who told me, ‘Bryan, the captain is dead.’”

Dabo recounted the frantic rush to the Italian defender’s room, along with his other teammates, who were in shock: “It was terrible—you’d see one guy crying, then another… We’d go into the room, look, and see the body. Even now, when I talk about it… For a month or two, I’d wake up in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. And I’d touch my heart—I was scared.”

“The night before, we were joking among ourselves: ‘If you die tomorrow, who will you leave your money to?’ And then a guy dies seven or eight hours later… The day before, we had the team’s electrocardiogram, and two days before that, blood tests. We didn’t understand…”.