It was meant to be a night of joy, a celebration of the New Year in the snowy Swiss resort town of Crans-Montana. People were dancing, laughing, and enjoying the moment, but the night turned into tragedy when a fire broke out inside the Le Constellation bar, killing 40 people and injuring 115. Among the injured was 19-year-old soccer player Tahirys Dos Santos, whose dreams were suddenly put in jeopardy.

On January 2, FC Metz confirmed on X that their young soccer trainee had been caught up in the blaze at the bar. “The entire club unites its thoughts to send them to Tahirys in these hours when he is battling the suffering,” they posted on X.

The teenager was on holiday in the mountains with his girlfriend and friends when the tragedy struck and has since been airlifted to Germany, where he is receiving specialist medical care.

However, the teenager has burns across over 30% of his body. His agent, Christophe Hutteau, provided an update on Dos Santos’ condition. “Saying that he is doing well would be misleading because he is suffering terribly. He has burns on 30% of his body. The positive sign is that his respiratory capacity has improved significantly,” he told BFMTV.

“The important thing is that he regains his physical and mental integrity,” continued Hutteau. But what’s even more heartbreaking is that when Tahirys regained consciousness, his first question was about the people around him.

“The first thing he kept asking the doctors when he regained consciousness was, ‘Where are my friends?'” revealed Huttaeu. Unfortunately, his girlfriend was also seriously injured and remains hospitalized.

FC Metz confirmed that the club is coordinating with medical authorities to transfer him to Mercy Hospital, closer to his home, to continue treatment. For Dos Santos, a midfielder, the dream had only just begun. He made his first appearance for FC Metz on December 20 in a French Cup match.

His agent described him as “a very ambitious young man with an exceptional mentality.” Everything was falling into place, and his professionalism was starting to pay off. Hutteau added, “There’s a real sense of injustice.” Tahirys Dos Santos had been eager to return to training as soon as possible after the New Year’s party, but now his focus must shift entirely to healing, leaving the soccer world waiting to see what happens next.

Tahirys Dos Santos was enjoying a breakthrough season before tragedy struck

Tahirys Dos Santos, from Mont-Saint-Martin, grew up playing in FC Metz’s youth system. A left-back who can also play in midfield, he had already made a name for himself in FC Metz’s reserve team, competing in National 3, France’s fifth tier.

This season, he played ten matches for the reserves, starting nine and even recording an assist. His performances earned him his first call-up to the senior squad on December 20 for a Coupe de France last-32 match against Biesheim, though he wasn’t subbed on in the 3-0 win.

Everything was starting to fall into place for him; he was just beginning to step into the next chapter of his soccer career. Before tragedy struck, Dos Santos was supposed to return to training with Metz on Friday.

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Tahirys Dos Santos was a young athlete on the rise, full of ambition and dreams, enjoying what should have been a night of celebration. Instead, his life was forever changed in the space of a few horrifying moments.