Hearts new boy opens up on his brush with death and what Arnaud Djoum told him to expect at Tynecastle

When Elton Kabangu turned up at Hearts for his club medical, it cannot have been a straightforward procedure.

Physically, he looks the picture of health. Indeed, he is the picture of health. The 26-year-old striker is raring to go as he prepares to make his debut for his new side against Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon. But that first meeting as he reeled off the list of strains, knocks and pulled muscles that every player suffers in a career might have taken an unexpected and extreme turn. Imagine a club doctor peering over his or her half-moon spectacles and enquiring if there was anything else that might be relevant and worth a mention. “Oh yes,” comes the reply. “I was once in a coma for 14 days.”

Hearts new signing Elton Kabangu pictured outside the Oriam training centre in Edinburgh ahead of his anticipated debut in Aberdeen this weekend. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Kabangu is no normal footballer. His is no normal story. The above exchange is fictional of course but the player’s dire medical situation was all too real five years ago as he succumbed to a particularly severe bout of Covid-19 while playing for Willem II in the Netherlands. At first the symptoms seemed mild and unremarkable. Loss of taste, aching muscles, the familiar signs many will recall. But then he started coughing up blood. Kabangu ended up in intensive care in a hospital in his Belgium homeland with his lungs causing particular concern.

He later recalled, in an article in a Belgian newspaper, his mother looking at him through the window (she was not allowed because he was isolating). “I could feel her fear through the window,” he remembered. He subsequently slipped into a coma.

Kabangu was recounting all of this to four newspaper journalists in Edinburgh earlier this week. Slack-jawed is the word. This wasn’t what we are used to hearing when promised a few minutes with a new signing. Often it doesn’t get more profound than happy to be here platitudes. And yet here we were discussing a footballer’s brush with death.

“14 days….Two weeks. Yeah, it's quite something,” he confirmed, when asked specifically about the coma. “When I woke up and realised everything that happened, it's hard. But those two weeks, I didn't realise what was going on. It was more difficult for my family….I feel bad for them because they had to endure this period.”

Hearts new loan signing from USG in Belgium, Elton Kabangu. | SNS Group

He credits his faith for helping him pull through. “I never doubted because I'm a religious guy and I believe in God. It had to be like this. I trust in God. Every situation that happened in my life makes me stronger and so did Covid-19.

“I had my family, I had God,” he added. “It (Covid-19) made me stronger. It made me the person I am now. Sometimes in life you have battles, and you have to try to win them.”

He has certainly won this one although the struggles didn’t necessarily end there. After surviving what he did, one imagines being dropped by a football team isn’t the end of the world. He had left Willem II to join Brussels-based Union Saint-Gilloise. The club have been at the vanguard of Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s sports data-driven revolution. Hearts have of course struck a deal with Jamestown Analytics, the sporting data analysis firm owned by Bloom. Kabangu’s arrival is clearly a product of this tie-up and he clearly showed up well when the Hearts coaching staff programmed in what they were looking for. Not that this helped him at Union SG, where he lost his place. What happened? “A concurrence of things,” the likeable and articulate Kabangu explained. “Injuries and the decision of the coach. I did not have the game time that I wanted. From there on I need to move forwards and think about myself and my career.”

Moving forward has involved joining Hearts on loan. He still has another year left of his contract at Union SG so who knows what the longer term will hold. His pedigree is without question. He was a regular scorer in the Netherlands with both FC Eindhoven and in the top flight with Willem II. As is stands, he just wants to get back playing having fallen out of favour at Union SG despite playing a part in two trophy wins.

Elton Kabangu scores for Union Saint-Gilloise during a Belgian Cup match against KAS Eupen in October. (Photo by BRUNO FAHY/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images) | BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

“I have not played a lot of games this season …But I am ready,” he said. He was encouraged to follow up Hearts’ interest by Union SG teammate Arnaud Djoum. The midfielder was a firm favourite at Tynecastle during his four-year stay.

“He talked very positively and everything he said until now has been true!” smiled Kabangu. “He told me that the best time of his career was at Hearts. ‘If you do well here, you will be loved,’ he said."

What can he bring to a Hearts team who might not be struggling as badly as they were earlier this season but who remain in the danger zone ahead of the trip to Pittodrie, where they have not win since 2016? “I bring speed!” he said, and it was easy to imagine the cheers of the Hearts supporters on hearing this news. “Goals, for sure. That’s what I am here for. Assists, too.”

Gorgie will have a new hero if he can deliver all this. The most recent hero, Lawrence Shankland, has seen his reputation suffer as the goals have dried up. Perhaps the arrival of a player with genuine speed and clear finishing ability is just what the skipper needs to spark him into life when he returns from injury.

“I want to be important,” said Kabangu. “If I want to be important, I need to take my responsibility in these kinds of situations. I think I do not need to help him as he is a great player and is the captain of the team. I think I can help the team but not him. I don’t think he needs my help. He has his name and he has done very well in the last seasons. I will help the team and he (Shankland) is here.”

For the time being, at least, that remains the case. As for Kabangu, he is simply happy to be anywhere as God’s plan for him continues to unfold in mysterious ways.