Muamba
BOLTON’S midfielder Fabrice Muamba was “in effect dead” for 78 minutes following his on-pitch collapse, the club’s doctor, Jonathan Tobin, has revealed.
Doctors say it is too early to predict whether he will play football again. But Dr. Tobin said he was amazed by the 23-year-old’s recovery so far. In an emotional interview published by BBC yesterday, Tobin said: “We were fearing the worse and didn’t think we’d get the recovery we had. It’s incredible.”
Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest in Wanderers’ FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane last weekend. Tobin told BBC Sport’s Dan Roan how Bolton’s physio, Andy Mitchell, was the first to spot that the player had collapsed.
He recalled: “He screamed, ‘Get on the pitch, get on the pitch’. It was obvious something major was happening.” According to him, Muamba was given two defibrillator shocks on the pitch, one in the players’ tunnel and a further 13 in the ambulance on the way to hospital but none worked. The player’s heart was not beating and he was unable to breathe for 78 minutes.
“It was 48 minutes when he collapsed to reaching hospital and a further 30 minutes after that. He was, in effect, dead at that time,” he revealed.
Tottenham’s club doctor, Shabaaz Mughal, was among those who rushed to Muamba’s aid and, according to him, “he appeared to take a couple of gasps but was then unresponsive.” The pair was further helped by Dr. Andrew Deaner, Consultant Cardiologist at London Chest Hospital, who was at the game as a fan and ran onto the pitch to lend his expertise.
“As soon as I saw them start CPR, something twitched in me,” he said. “You always hope that if you have a defibrillator and get there quickly, they will respond to at least two or three shocks. The longer the resuscitation, the less the chances of survival.
“But this is a very fit 23-year old and those attending him are trained in CPR. If I was ever going to use term miraculous it could be used here. He has made a remarkable recovery so far.
“Two hours after (regaining consciousness) I whispered in his ear, ‘What’s your name?’ and he said, ‘Fabrice Muamba’. I said ‘I hear you’re a really good footballer’ and he said ‘I try’. I had a tear in my eye.”
The consultant added: “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but as things stand, his life is not in danger at this time. It is early days, so it is not possible to say (if he’ll play again).”
According to the Consultant Cardiologist now looking after Muamba, Dr. Sam Mohiddin, “Fabrice has continued to demonstrate positive signs of recovery. His outcome has been extraordinary as a result of extraordinary care. He has exceeded our expectations.
“He has not only exceeded our expectation in the way he has recovered but this remains very early in what could be a very lengthy recovery period. The critical thing was the rapid, prompt and very effective CPR at White Hart Lane and expertise from the London ambulance service. Normal life is within the spectrum of possibility.”
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