On Tuesday, VfL Wolfsburg confirmed that they had renewed the contract of Brazilian defender, Felipe Lopes, until 2016.
The 27-year-old centre-back arrived at Wolfsburg in 2012, following a January move from CD Nacional in Portugal.
Game time has been limited since then and has included a brief loan spell with fellow Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.
However, disaster struck last summer. On July 12th, 2014, Felipe was admitted to the Wolfsburger Klinikum with a circulatory disturbance in his brain and symptoms relating to a stroke.
Since then, the road to recovery has been a slow one. Yet, he started running again in February 2015 and looks set to return to team training in the near future.
Klaus Allofs, sporting director at the club, spoke about the extension: "The news was a real shock for all of us. We continue to offer Felipe all the help and support we possibly can, in the hope that he can return to full team training as soon as possible."
Felipe himself added, "I dream of playing for VfL Wolfsburg once again. I am very grateful to the club for the faith and support they have given me. I hope to be back on the pitch soon."
Quotes via VfL Wolfsburg.