Quakes get a win on emotional night for stricken Silva
Player who nearly drowned has tearful reunion with team, rescuers at Avaya
SAN JOSE >>
Matheus Silva couldn’t stop saying “thank you” Saturday evening between hugs and tears.
Twenty-five days after nearly drowning in icy Lake Tahoe the Earthquakes midfielder finally had a chance to thank some of the men who helped rescue him during a July 4 outing that went terribly wrong at Zephyr Cove resort.
Paddleboarders Colby Peterson of Redwood City and brother-in-law Chris Guenther of Livermore and John Burke of Placerville performed the honorary first kick at Avaya Stadium before the reeling Quakes ended a three-game losing streak by defeating the Colorado Rapids 1-0.
The results hardly seemed to matter on a day of emotional celebration for a young man who was a struggling stranger to holiday goers on a sunny holiday morning before sunrise. Peterson, a longtime Quakes fan, didn’t know he had helped rescue a player until searching the internet to see what had happened to the swimmer.
Silva, a budding midfielder on loan with Earthquakes’ affiliate Reno 1868 FC this year, spent two days in a coma before recovering enough to return to light practice last week.
“I can run,” said Silva, speaking publicly for the first time since the incident. “I have done everything, but I haven’t trained with the team.”
A player who grew up in a poor area of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is scheduled to spend the week in San Jose for more medical treatment. But Saturday was a time to celebrate life.
“It was an amazing team effort for us to be able to get you out,” Peterson told the player.
Silva: “I believe in second chances. I’m extremely happy to be here.”
Guenther: “It was just kind of luck that we were as close to you as we were.”
While the men spoke a teary-eyed Marcia Silva watched her son, waiting to thank the men in her native Portuguese.
Silva also was lucky Burke was at the South Lake Tahoe beach before sunrise. The emergency room nurse ran down the strand when hearing the player scream for help. The paddleboarders reached Silva first, putting his 6-foot-2 body on one of the planks to get him ashore.
“He was flatlined,” Burke said. “He had no pulse. I thought he bought a ticket.”
Burke administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and about eight minutes later “I saw the nostrils flare. Oh yeah, he’s coming home,’ ” the nurse recalled.
Silva doesn’t remember.
“I’m a decent swimmer,” he said. “All I could do at the moment was ask for help.”
A Tahoe Marshall Fire Protection District official said cold-water shock syndrome played a role in the episode.
Silva has appeared in only two games this season for Reno. Last year, he appeared four times for the Earthquakes but played most of the season for a United Soccer League team in Arizona on loan.
Silva and some Reno teammates had gone to the Sierra lake to enjoy the holiday after a long week of training.
The player known for always smiling is not taking any of it for granted.
“It’s God,” Silva said. “God has been good to me. I’m just thankful. Take one day at a time. Try to be a better person every day. I realized how quick stuff can go.”
It has been an emotional year for San Jose, starting with defender Marvell Wynne’s open-heart surgery in March. Wynne learned he had a heart abnormality during a routine pre-season physical examination.
The veteran fullback has been doing conditioning drills on the sideline, but it remains unclear whether Wynne can play again.
“We were a family already, and now we’re more,” said Reno midfielder Luis Felipe, who rushed into the lake to help bring Silva ashore.