Straight
Six months after suffering a cardiac arrest during a football match, Thomas Alun Lockyer suffered another heart attack while wearing his football boots. The Welsh defender and Luton captain collapsed just an hour into the game this Saturday as his side faced Bournemouth in a head-to-head battle to stay in the Premier League. After half an hour of fear and 11,000 shocked spectators constantly chanting for the lying player, the English league authorities suspended the game. The scoreboard read 1:1.
1
Neto, Marcos Senesi, Milos Kerkez, Adam Smith, Illia Zabarnyi, Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo (Philip Billing, Min. 45), Justin Kluivert, Ryan Christie, Lewis Cook and D. Solanke
1
Kaminskyi, Amari'i Bell, Teden Mengi, Lockyer, Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga (Ruddock, Min. 58), Alfie Doughty, Barkley, Issa Kabore, Townsend (Chiedozie Ogbene, Min. 59), Jacob Brown and Elijah Adebayo
Goals 0-1 min 3: Elijah Adebayo. 1-1 min 57: D. Solanke.
referee Simon Hooper
Yellow cards Alfie Doughty (min. 12)
“Our medical team has confirmed that the captain is the Hatters [el apodo del Luton] “He suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch but was already resuscitated when they put him on the stretcher,” said the club's official statement, published on the social network X. “He was treated at the stadium, for which we thank you.” Bournemoth medical staff. “Tom has been taken to hospital and we can reassure our followers that he remains stable with his family by his side.”
Lockyer didn't want to quit football when it first happened to him. He was persuaded by the doctors, supported by permissive legislation that exempts them from liability in the event of the patient's death in the United Kingdom. Unlike in Italy or Spain, where regulations refer directly to doctors when approving the return to competition of an athlete diagnosed with serious cardiovascular problems, in England it is the footballer who bears the legal consequences of the risk . This means that he is competing with an athlete cardiac pathology.
This legal peculiarity, typical of the Nordic countries, allowed the Dane Christian Eriksen to settle in the Premier after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2021 match. Inter Milan terminated his contract. But Eriksen, who underwent surgery and was armed with a portable defibrillator, signed for Brentford and later United. The cardiologist who coordinated his treatment, Briton Sanjay Sharma, accompanied him on his return to competition. Sharma himself was responsible for overseeing Lockyer after his first collapse, during the promotion play-off final between Luton and Coventry on May 27.
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“I ended up watching the penalty shootout against Coventry from the hospital,” Lockyer remembers. “I felt very bad for two days. But luckily it didn't last long. I ended up in the hands of the same cardiologist who had treated Eriksen and he dispelled my doubts by telling me that I would play football again without any problems.”
Lockyer underwent heart surgery to correct what the English media dubbed “atrial fibrillation.” But the procedure did not save him from the terrible time he experienced in the old Dean Court Stadium. It was the 59th minute when his team attacked and Lockyer fell on his face. Bournemouth strikers Solanke and Semenyo were the first to help him when they saw him collapse in front of them near the center circle. Robert Edwards, the Luton coach, ran onto the pitch along with the paramedics.
Minutes of great fear followed. The stretcher bearers removed the footballer and the game was stopped before the Luton and Bournemouth teams emerged from the dressing rooms to walk around the pitch and applaud the fans. Robert Edwards was the last to make the rounds, alone, crying and applauding the crowd as he repeated “Thank you, thank you, thank you” over and over again.
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