The story of woe from SCB striker Lehmann

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Marco Lehmann’s big dream should have been the next step in his career: playing big at Bern. Heralded as an SCB gem, the striker only managed to play four games last season. The reason: his stomach revolts. The symptoms of an infection not only make ice hockey impossible for him, everyday life is also a challenge for the 24-year-old. A social life is almost impossible.

From the front: moved from Kloten to Rappi in 2020, where he continues to develop and is voted “Young Bird of the Year”. That arouses desires. In the New Year’s Eve week of 2021, Lehmann will sign a three-year contract with SCB. The big club stole the talent from the Lakers. Sports director Andrew Ebbett said at the time: “We want to develop him into one of our best players and a candidate for the national team.”

Lehmann, who suffered a concussion with the Lakers, cuts a fine figure in Bernese summer training. He is in top form and the fastest of the team both in the run up to the harnesses and in the infamous long sneeze run. Then the fateful holidays in July 2022 in Greece.

infection in Greece

The former youth international recalls: “On the second day I couldn’t eat anything, I had nausea all the time.” For three days, the hockey pro can barely eat because he can’t keep anything down. He suffers from vomiting and diarrhoea. Lehmann thinks nothing bad, “only that I ate something wrong”. But the complaints do not go away. He decides to move the return flight forward.

When he landed in Zurich, he immediately went to the hospital for a check-up. The primary check is whether anything life-threatening is present. Further investigations will hardly follow in Bern. The doctors found that Lehmann had developed post-infectious symptoms, the virus infection had done damage. Despite the diagnosis: the stomach problems remain. The SCB player loses almost ten kilos of body weight.

Lehmann has to skip the preparatory parties, “it just didn’t work out”. Because he is so looking forward to the start of the season, he simply puts aside his complaints: “I didn’t want to admit them”. In the first two games of the season, including the first home appearance, he is on the ice, “in these emotions I managed to hide everything”.

However, the otherwise lively striker is still far from being able to eat normally at the moment. After two more games in early October, he realized: “My condition is not compatible with professional sports.” Because Lehmann, who is rather lightly built, cannot simply regain the lost kilos.

“Only in January able to master everyday life”

“I wanted to take this opportunity at SCB, but it didn’t work out. The disappointment was great. It was stressful,” he admits. But he does not lose faith that one day he will return to the ice. Because the doctors emphasize that this recovery does not happen overnight. And his teammates and club support him. “They never let me down, that motivated me. His loved ones take care of him at home, “they saw everything in this difficult time. You were there for me».

Lehmann’s condition improved only gradually. “It wasn’t until January that I was able to cope with everyday life again.” But he is still a long way from a comeback. Only now, four long months later, can he say, “Things are looking good for the start of the season.” He has started summer training with Bern. A year too late, he now wants to prove himself at SCB.

He has learned a lot about himself from these months of suffering. Gratitude for his regained health. “And”, Lehmann searches for the right words, “with my ambition to want to do everything perfectly, to be able to act better when things go wrong.”

Source : Blick