Defender of Chapecoense, Helio Zampier Neto, returns to Brazil with hopes of returning to the field

The defender of Chapecoense, Helio Zampier Neto, one of the six survivors of the plane crash that killed 19 players from the team, returned to Brazil today, where medical services did not rule out his return to the playing field in the future.

"In less than a week, we are in Brazil with him conscious. Will he return to football? There is a chance, but that is with time," said Dr. Edson Stakonski, an intensivist cardiologist from Chapecó, the city where the Brazilian club is based and where Neto has been admitted.

Stakonski, director of Hospital Unimed Chapecó, where Neto will continue his recovery, revealed that he talked with the defender during the flight, which departed from Medellín on Thursday afternoon and made a stop in Manaus.

The doctor stated that Neto felt some pain during the journey, but overall it was calm.

"It is a physical and psychological trauma. We have to take care of the wounds we see and the ones we don't. They will need psychological support. All their colleagues died," Stakonski asserted.

Neto, who will have to recover from a lung infection, will be in the same hospital as his teammate, full-back Alan Ruschel, and journalist Rafael Henzel Oeste, who arrived in Brazil on Tuesday.

Several fans welcomed the center-back at the hospital entrance with words of encouragement, just like the friends he used to attend the same church with in Chapecó, located in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

Face to face with his savior

The Chapecoense defender had the opportunity to talk with the rescuer who found him among the wreckage of the plane after a six-hour wait.

Neto was surprised by the moving story of his savior, whom he did not hesitate to embrace using all the strength that his injuries allowed.

Here are the images from the program Jugones.