To God be the glory. Bolton manager Owen Coyle said earlier Monday that Muamba, who has played 33 matches for England's under team, had been putting up a "brave fight. When situations like this occur there is a real strength, a real unity, a real togetherness Muamba, a former Arsenal and Birmingham player, fled to England with his family in to escape the civil war in Congo. He is a physically fit young man," Coyle said. Being of Congolese origin, it makes our country proud having a player from Congo playing abroad.
At Tottenham, players were due to undergo tests for potential heart defects, with cardiologist Sanjay Sharma saying "the players have all demanded cardiac screening" at a planned routine visit on Monday.
Tragically it was during that game that, like Muamba, Foe suddenly collapsed to the floor in the 72nd minute. Medics spent 45 minutes trying to restart his heart but to no avail. Signs of fatigue had been shown by Foe shortly before his collapse, which led to thoughts of substitution, but he had signaled a desire to play on.
During six and a half seasons at Newcastle, he only scored one goal, but that goal will always be immortalized by the Geordie faithful, being a 25 yard volley which saw Newcastle snatch a draw from a home Premier League game against Arsenal in which they had trailed at half-time. After that he eventually ended up playing for Beijing Enterprises in the Chinese League where, on June 5, , he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during training, aged Football is a game that many of us love and that holds great importance in our lives.
It can supply us with a host of emotions from week to week, from elation due to a late winner to despair after a particularly harsh defeat. But it is overall just a game, played by 22 men on a pitch for both their enjoyment and ours.
And while it is easy to throw around quotes joking about how crucial it is, in the grand scheme of things it is just entertainment and, as we have seen with recent events, even when football stops, life continues. The rest, as they say, is just gravy. Euro saw Scotland compete in an international tournament for the first time since A break of No home comforts…. Tony Woodcock scored 16 goals for England and earned 42 caps. Sports stars appearing in the movie business is a crossover that has had decidedly mixed results.
Think Ally McCoist in Home Nostalgia. July 1, Share on Facebook Share on Twitter. Share 24 Tweet 15 Share 6. Related Posts. November 10, My first game: Dundee United v Dunfermline, 2nd May A bitter, cold wind had picked up since we left the car and rain was in the air. November 8, Spurs had five fully medically trained assistants pitchside that day, and there was, as ever, aid from the St John Ambulance unit.
It was a far cry from , when Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech fractured his skull playing against Reading. He had to crawl off the pitch by himself and wait for an ambulance: the resultant outcry saw standards of medical pitchside preparation improved to their current high standards.
It's a great change because sometimes it takes only a few seconds to change a whole life and a whole career. Muamba began to get, if we can call it that, lucky. Instantly given oxygen and professional CPR, his chances were already raised. The CPR is the main thing, although oxygen certainly helps, a priority recognised in the recent British Heart Foundation television advert featuring player-turned-actor Vinnie Jones, which makes a point of ignoring the kiss of life. I asked the foundation why it had apparently changed its stance after school generations had been taught, on dummies, to both breathe and push.
So push-down CPR is now the official priority, but do not kid yourself it is not hard work — you need to make thrusts of at least 5cm downwards, repeated at a rhythm of 80 a minute. The Vinnie Jones advert features the Bee Gees' hit Staying Alive, which might be a dodgy record but is a perfect rhythmic touchstone. What was happening to Muamba at this time, according to Professor Sanjay Sharma, a cardiology specialist at St George's University Hospital, London, was "ventricular fibrillation.
Rapid chaotic electrical activity within the heart. It means the heart stops its usual pumping function; good oxygenated blood should be pumping from the left ventricle, coming back to the right, but suddenly it's not.
Which, after a short while, is not usually compatible with life. As soon as he arrived on the pitch, Deaner "could see they were doing very good CPR. They had the defib ready. Muamba was given 15 defibrillation shocks in all: two on the pitch, one in the tunnel, 12 in the ambulance. On July 26, Stuart Pearce's side welcomed Senegal to Old Trafford in their first game of the group stages and, despite not being in the squad to play, Fabrice decided to turn up. I wanted to go home after five minutes because I couldn't watch.
In my head, I should have been playing. It wasn't anybody's fault but it was a bitter pill to swallow. You can see why it would be such a painful experience for someone who was forced to retire at age 24 from a circumstance out of his control but as time has gone on, Muamba has learned how deal with it. The question remains though; what could have been? You never really seen anyone get past him.
He just sat in front of the defence and did his job. He had a great passing range as well. He was a massive miss for us and we would have been safe if he was fit that season.
We would have survived. That took the plug out of my career. I can spend time with my children and I've lived to see them grow. My health is the number one priority. I feel like, when it happened before, I wasn't prepared for it.
Because of the pacemaker I'm OK, but deep down, I'm thinking: please don't happen again. It's that fear that worries me the most to be honest. Despite his fears, it is clear throughout our chat that Muamba continues to be incredibly thankful for life, nine years on. Last year, he and his wife Shauna welcomed a fourth child to their family. He graduated from university with a BA in Sports Journalism and, after getting all his coaching badges, Muamba became a member of Rochdale's coaching staff in , where he coached the unders based at the club's Manchester Development Centre.
Muamba continues to give advice to players in a role with the PFA but whatever happens in his life from now, the former England Under international knows how lucky he is to be alive considering what happened on that harrowing day in I'm no different to any of them.
But the big man up there spared my life for me to still be here. To me, everyday is a bonus. I don't take life for granted. I'm thankful to be here. I can spend time with my kids. I can do things that most people have gone through this journey wouldn't have been able to do. I can move around and do everything I want to. Every day is a blessing. Chosen for You Chosen for You. Most Read Stories Most Read. Advert
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