On a Thursday evening, handball enthusiasts learned that rising star Victor Wembanyama was diagnosed with venous thrombosis, a severe health issue. Ludovic Fabregas, a renowned handball player, was vividly reminded of his own battle with this condition, echoing his experience from the fall of 2017 when he faced a similar diagnosis on his right shoulder. The pivot, then a promising player with the Montpellier training club, was on the brink of a worrying career setback, placing his future in jeopardy. Remarkably, the setback only briefly hindered his path towards stardom. Now an Olympic champion (2021), European Champion (2024), and triple winner of the Champions League (2018, 2021, 2022), Fabregas shared his journey in a video addressed to his team and to aspiring athletes around the globe, offering them hope and resilience.

As an inspiration to many, in the same way, that basketball star Kevin Garnett overcame his hand and wrist-related injuries during his long illustrious NBA career, Ludovic Fabregas narrated, “Basically, I had received a blow at the level of the hand, a small hematoma had appeared but nothing particular, except that the following days, I have the arm which swelled a little, which became a little blue. I also had a little more difficulty taking the efforts, I then had a few exams that had not shown anything at the base. So I continued to train and play in competition. But after two weeks it had worsened: my arm had doubled in volume, it had become really purple and during the matches I could not follow the cadence at all.”

Consequently, just like Major League Baseball’s Jacob DeGrom’s experience with thoracic outlet syndrome, in Fabregas’ own team, someone in Montpellier researched and identified the blood clot obstructing his vein. Receiving immediate medical attention, Fabregas underwent anticoagulation treatment to restore blood circulation and dissolve the clot. During this progression, he shared, “We had returned exams in Montpellier and this time, we had found this blood clot which had blocked at the shoulder. At that time, I was immediately set up. I was put under anticoagulants so as to fluidify the blood as much as possible and eliminate this clot. I was two months old, it was a difficult, painful, a little dark period at the start because I had really received a big blow behind my head.”

Following weeks of prescribed activities, gradual training, and pivotal medical supervision, Fabregas resumed rigorous training. For him, it was difficult to stay away from the court and games, although he needed to exercise patience to completely recover. Fabregas articulated, “It was frustrating because I had a daily life that was rather classic, where I could do everything: I could walk, move, but not practice my sport and passion, it was difficult to take. After a couple of months, I was able to perform low-impact activities, slowly increasing the intensity to finally regain my physical form.” This process not only honed his skills but also boosted his adrenaline.

The resilient player shared his perseverance during the recovery phase, insisting that battling back from such unexpected setbacks in a” high-impact” sport often teaches lessons and offers insights that mere training never would. By challenging himself for four months post-detection, he was ready to play a full official game again in his first-return match: Playing in Paris against PSG with a belt, relabeled him as a comeback king.

He currently continues his preventative measures by using a sleeve for all his training and matches. Moreover, when traveling by plane, this routine has become more pertinent minimizing the risk for deep vein thrombosis, especially during long flights. Fabregas concluded, “I just play with a sleeve on all my training, all my matches, as a preventive basis. On the moves too, especially when you take the plane because of the variety that varies, I wear this sleeve and the compression socks to optimize the fluidity of the blood. This is something that I keep on a daily basis in my sports practice and which allows me not to relive this kind of moments.”