SHAH ALAM, May 8 — The skin layer that will be used in the grafting procedure to cover the fourth-degree burn wounds suffered by Harimau Malaya and Selangor FC star winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim, who was injured in an acid attack, is being imported from abroad this week.
Selangor FC’s sports medicine head Dr Muhammad Hazwan Khair said it is part of the procedure to help speed up skin recovery.
The surgery procedure is expected to be carried out this week specifically to treat the damaged skin layer of the 26-year-old, while the muscle injury recovery process will be carried out in a subsequent session.
“It (skin layer) needs to be brought in from abroad for the purpose of a skin allograft, which is part of the procedure to help and accelerate the recovery process.
“According to the surgeon, the procedure is scheduled for this week, and there will be follow-up procedures. It (the skin layer) definitely needs to be imported,” he told the press at a private hospital today.
Earlier in the morning, Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, in his capacity as Selangor FC chairman, spent half an hour visiting Faisal, who is in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Faisal is reported to be in a much better condition this morning after undergoing his second surgery yesterday.
On Sunday (May 5), the local football scene was shocked by the incident in which Faisal was injured from an acid attack at a shopping centre in Petaling Jaya.
He was confirmed to have suffered fourth-degree burns on several parts of his body and underwent his first surgery on Sunday night. His movement and speech are also limited.
The player, who won the Best Goal Award at the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar last January, is expected to be sidelined for at least five or six months, missing out on two matches in the second round of the World Cup 2026/Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan next month.
The incident was the second tragic event affecting a national player after Terengganu FC loan player Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid was injured on the head and leg after being attacked by two robbers at his residential area in Kuala Terengganu on Thursday (May 2).
The attacks on national football players have taken a new turn as Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) player Safiq Rahim came under attack by two men on a motorcycle who smashed the rear window of his car with a hammer in Johor Bahru yesterday.
— Bernama
