Former Leipzig and Wolfsburg Bundesliga coach Ralph Hasenhüttl has reported on his infection with the hantavirus and the subsequent fight for survival. After a mountain bike tour during a training camp in the summer of 2012 with VfR Aalen, which Hasenhüttl had just led into the 2nd Bundesliga, the Austrian felt weak.
"I went to bed and that's when the headache started. It felt like a needle was stuck in my head. Then I noticed severe back pain. It felt like there was a knife in my back," the 58-year-old told the Daily Mirror in England.
According to the doctors, Hasenhüttl's liver and kidneys had become so enlarged by the hantavirus that they were pressing on other organs. The virus, which is carried by rodents, is currently making headlines around the world following an outbreak on the cruise ship "Hondius". Three people have died so far and many more are infected.
