Hamburg striker hurt in mid-air panic attack
By William Smith
Paolo Guerrero, the Hamburg striker, was injured whilst suffering from a panic attack during a flight to Switzerland.
Guerrero has a well-reported fear of flying which just goes to show that phobias can strike terror into the heart of anyone. This particular phobia is known as aerophobia and is a phobia that Mental Healthy has covered before. Read our report on aerophobia here and our editor, Charlotte Fantelli’s review of her experience of a fear of flying course here.
After suffering a thigh muscle injury, the Peruvian footballer, was left out of the team which played against FC Lucerne last weekend.
In a report on Yahoo Sport, coach Michael Oenning told the German media, ‘We know about Paolo’s fear of flying. He became cramped up in his seat and suffered a stiffening of the muscles.’
He added ‘I think Paolo will get fit quickly and should play at the weekend against Werder Bremen.’
Earlier this year there were many reports that Guerrero, the top scorer in the Copa America, was forced to delay his return from Peru to Germany several times because he just couldn’t bring himself to get onto the plane. He actually managed to get on to the aircraft only to get straight back off on four occasions. He finally managed to stay on board on his fifth attempt.
Since then it has been reported that Paolo has had treatment and it appeared that he was getting over the problem. Phobias can be very debilitating but with the correct treatment it is possible to overcome them.
Further help
Read our report on aerophobia here and our editor, Charlotte Fantelli’s review of her experience of a fear of flying course here.
