Abidal: "I thank my cousin, without him I wouldn't be here"

Eric Abidal, who played football again this Saturday for the first time after three months out, thanked his cousin, who donated part of his own kidney for the transplant.
Abidal donned his kit again and took to the pitch to replace Piqué for the second half of Barça's game - which brought the entire stadium to its feet in a standing ovation -, after being out of action for three months.
At the final whistle, Abidal said that it had been a special night for him "because I hadn't played for a year". He immediately dedicated the day to his cousin, whose act he paid tribute to with a t-shirt under his kit displaying the words: "Merci, mon cousin (Thanks cousin)".
"I thank my cousin, because without him I wouldn’t be here. This is a once in a lifetime moment," said Abidal, who also offered encouragement to anyone in a similar situation to him and expressed his gratitude for all the tokens of affection he received from "everybody, friends and fans, but above all my cousin. I'd also like to thank everyone I met in hospital".
To those going through something similar to him, Abidal offered them these words of encouragement: "Fight on; don't give up the fight because there's always hope, as well as God's help through prayer and help from other people because we can’t do anything without them".