Juventus tell story of paralysed Next Gen player who fought back to full fitness

Juventus have released a video telling the story of Daouda Peeters, a 24-year Next Gen player who, through illness, suddenly became paralysed, before fighting his way back to full fitness and resuming his career as a professional footballer. 

Peeters, born in Guinea and later adopted in Belgium, signed for Juve in 2019 aged 20, having spent a year in Sampdoria’s academy. He had also spent several years playing for Club Brugge before his move to Italy. 

He made his debut for the Bianconeri first team in July 2020, becoming the first Belgian to turn out for Juve in the process.  Standard Liege areed a loan deal with Juventus and Peeters for the 2021-22 season, however, disaster struck soon afterwards. 

As documented in the video published by Juventus, Peeters suddenly became gravely unwell in November 2021, collapsing unexpectedly while trying to get out of bed before completely losing consciousness.  Peeters was later diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. There had been genuine concerns that he would never walk again. 

After months of hospital treatment and having been confined to a wheelchair, Peeters suddenly began to feel movement again in his feet and was told by doctors that the neural connections between his brain and feet were beginning to re-emerge. 

That day marked the start of a long and gruelling recovery process, which has now resulted in a full return to professional football.  Peeters resumed training with Juventus Next Gen in March 2023, almost 18 months after his initial diagnosis, and on July 7, it was announced that he will be joining Sudtirol in Serie B for the 2023-24 campaign.