From the jaws of death now back to kicking the ball again, its a remarkable story of Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba.
It was during the FA cup tie against Tottenham where he got a cardiac arrest that stopped his heartbeat for more than 60 minutes. Muamba was rushed to the London Chest Hospital and doctors took 78 minutes to restart his heart following the incident at White Hart Lane, with his eventual recovery described as a miracle. The game was called off and players and fans all around the world prayed for the recovery of Muamba. After almost two months in the bed, Muamba played football for this first time in Dubai along with Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson and Sunderland’s Kieran Richardson. Muamba did not reveal this even in his twitter account and no photos have been shared , but when Speaking to Piers Morgan in an interview on American news channel CNN Muamba revealed that he had enjoyed a ‘kickabout’ during his recent visit to Dubai.
“I was on holiday and I was staying in a hotel and there were quite a few footballers in the hotel as well. The staff of the hotel usually play against the visitosr so I was by the pool and I heard they were playing football,” he said. “Then I went across and saw other footballers playing and I told my friends and Shauna – I told her ‘I am sorry but I am going to play football’. She goes ‘are you sure?’ and I say ‘yes’ and I just went in there.”
Asked if his fiancee said it was OK, Muamba added: “Yeah yeah yeah but she was scared. I just went in through the groove and played for about 20-25 minutes. “It was just playing like normal, it was just playing like I was training. It was great, I enjoyed it. “It was just to get back into the groove and to get back into momentum, it was just great but I just hope to God that I can get in there myself, with the 11 players on the pitch and to play would be fantastic.”
It is a remarkable recovery by the 24-year-old but it is still not known when, or if, former England Under-21 international will be able to return to professional football. Muamba will visit heart specialist Pedro Brugada in Belgium next week to find out whether he could continue his career in professional football.
Whether Muamba will ever play competitively again remains an uncertainty but if he does it will be a great story of a remarkable man. One could only wish him luck and pray for his successful recovery.