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Former Spanish footballer Pelayo Novo has died after being hit by a train, Spanish media have reported (via The Sun).
On Tuesday night (28 February), Spanish media reported about Novo’s horrific accident. Aged only 32, the former midfielder was reportedly crushed by a train in Spain’s Oviedo city. Pelayo Novo plied his trade at four Spanish clubs, Elche, Cordoba, Lugo, and Albacete. He also spent a short time away from Spain, turning out for CFR Cluj.
His past clubs, as well as the teams he was associated with, have dedicated heartfelt messages to him since Tuesday night’s incident.
Real Oviedo wrote on Twitter:
“With a broken heart. We deeply regret the death of Pelayo Novo, captain of our Foundation. Family, friends: we are with you. Rest in peace Pelayo.”
Cordona, on the other hand, added:
“We deeply regret the death of our former player Pelayo Novo at the age of 32. He will always remain in the memory of the Cordobesistas, since a cross of his made us 'touch the sky in Las Tendillas'. Our sincere condolences to family and friends."
Novo, who turned to wheelchair tennis following a horrific fall from the third floor of Albacete’s team hotel in 2018, played 208 matches across all levels and cup competitions in Spanish football. He scored 26 times and won La Liga’s second division with Elche in the 2012-13 season.
Pelayo Novo was an inspiration to the fraternity of disabled athletes
In March 2018, then-27-year-old Novo fell from the third floor of Albacete’s team hotel in Huesca. He was in the hospital for 51 long days and was told at the Toledo National Paraplegic Hospital that he would never be able to play football again.
Instead of giving up his career as an athlete, he turned to wheelchair tennis and emerged as an ambassador for aspiring and professional disabled athletes in Spain. Speaking about his 2018 accident, Novo said in an interview (via The Sun):
“The human being adapts to the circumstances that he has. It is logical that it takes time because there are times when it is bad. I managed to get out of that and now I am having a great time.”
Novo eventually became a board member of the Asturian Tennis Federation and most recently competed at the Cataluyna Open.
