Dalma Maradona, one of the daughters of Diego Armando Maradona, has denounced, during the trial for her father's death, that the doctors treating him when he passed away obstructed the contact of the Argentine idol with his family and deceived them "in the cruelest way" about his last hospitalization.
Dalma, one of the two daughters the former footballer had with his ex-wife, Claudia Villafañe, has appeared at the Criminal Court Number 3 of San Isidro, Buenos Aires province, and provided testimony for the first time since the beginning of the trial against seven healthcare professionals for her father's death on November 25, 2020, as reported by Efe.
The daughter of the Argentine idol strongly criticized the medical team in charge of her father's care during home hospitalization following a head operation on November 3, 2020, accusing them of limiting the contact she and other family members could have with Diego.
"Many times I said that I did not recognize my dad in the last period because he no longer laughed, he was lost, if we were on a video call, he didn't know who was on the other side," Dalma recounted, alerting the team treating her father about this situation.
"The doctors said it was normal, that it would take weeks, but that he would be fine, and obviously during all that time they cut off all contact with us," she added, specifying that those who hindered contact with her father were his primary care physician, Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and psychologist Carlos Díaz.
Asked about her involvement in decision-making regarding the footballer's medical team and the procedures he underwent, Dalma explained: "We didn't have much influence, we could say what we thought but we didn't make decisions."
After Maradona's operation on November 3, Luque told the family that the only option for the recovery process was home hospitalization, ruling out the possibility of hospitalization - voluntary or forced - at the Clínica Olivos, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
"We discussed the 3 options, it didn't seem so bad to us because they promised us the same thing (in home hospitalization) as at Clínica Olivos, and it never happened. They deceived us in the cruelest way," Dalma said, ensuring that the conditions of the house where her father was hospitalized did not match what they had been promised.
Dalma also accused Matías Morla, Maradona's lawyer; Maximiliano Pomargo, the footballer's assistant; and Vanesa Morla, Matías's sister, who managed her father's affairs, of obstructing contact with the family during the last hospitalization.
"He would call me and say 'you never come, come, bring me the little girl (his granddaughter)'. But I went and from the door, I start calling and they tell me he's asleep, I came in the car with a baby and they don't let me in, don't do this to me," expressed Dalma, describing other instances where both Pomargo and psychologist Díaz prevented her from visiting her father.
"They told us everything was fine"
"They told us everything was under control and everything was fine, but they didn't allow us entry, so we couldn't confirm that was true," she added, while complaining about the lack of attention to her father during his last days.
When asked how many times access was denied, Dalma replied, "many, many times," emphasizing that Diego did not believe her when she told him.
In addition to Luque, Cosachov, and Díaz, this process also involves the doctor and coordinator of the company Swiss Medical, Nancy Forlini, the doctor Pedro Di Spagna, the nurse coordinator Mariano Perroni, and the nurse Ricardo Almirón. Nurse Gisela Madrid is also charged but will face a jury trial, as requested.
Judges Maximiliano Savarino, Verónica Di Tommaso, and Julieta Makintach will have to determine whether seven of the eight accused are guilty of the crime of simple homicide with eventual intent, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.