da bet vitoria： Luton captain Tom Lockyer has opened up on the terrifying moment he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch against Bournemouth.
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Lockyer collapsed at Vitality StadiumGame was abandonedLuton star unsure if he'll ever play againWHAT HAPPENED?
Lockyer collapsed in the 59th minute of Luton's game against Bournemouth on December 16, with medics subsequently rushing on to the pitch to treat him. The match was abandoned due to the incident and Lockyer was rushed to hospital after his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds. Doctors resuscitated the 29-year-old and he was declared to be in a stable condition later that evening.
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Lockyer spent a total of five days in hospital, and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), but it is not yet clear whether he will be able to resume his career as a footballer. Looking back on the harrowing ordeal, Lockyer told : "It was just a normal day, and that was the most worrying thing because I felt completely fine. I have been looking for answers since but I have not been able to find any because it was just another day at the office. I was running towards the halfway line and I went really light headed. I thought I’d be ok in a second but I wasn’t. I woke up and the paramedics were there. I knew instantly it was different to my collapse in May. Last time it felt like I woke up from a dream, and this time I woke up from nothingness. I could see there was more panic and I was a bit disorientated. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move. I was trying to work out what was happening, and I remember thinking, ‘I could be dying here’. It was a surreal thought to to have, not being able to respond, and you can see the panic going on. I could feel them put the drip in my arm and it was a hard mix of emotions. Eventually I came round and I was able to speak and to respond. When I felt ok, it was then a relief I was alive."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Lockyer, who also suffered a collapse during Luton's Championship play-off final victory over Coventry back in May, went on to discuss how his family were affected by his second major health scare in a matter of months. “Following what happened in May, I have a recording device in my chest, and I was out for two minutes and 40 (seconds)," he said. "It was hardest on my family having to watch that. They had it worse than me. My old man was there (at the match) and my girlfriend was seven months pregnant at the time. My mum was at home listening on the radio. She went off to make a cup of tea after Bournemouth scored, and when she came back my brother had turned the radio off. She asked ‘why’, and he had to say to her that Tom has gone down off the ball again. This is the bigger picture that people don’t see and that is the hardest part to deal with. I am not going to lie, it has been a tough couple of months. I don’t know if I have processed what happened. I don’t know if it will come back and bite me on the bum, but I have not had any emotions since what happened. I literally died but I have been numb to the whole thing since.”
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Lockyer returned to Luton's training ground for the first time since the Bournemouth incident last month, and is still hopeful he can play at the top level again, but will have to undergo a few more tests before being given a clear picture for his future. "If I am not allowed to play again then I can say I captained Luton in the Premier League and I have scored a Premier League goal," he said. "I am very fortunate that I have had high moments in my career and scoring a Premier League goal is something you dream of as a kid. I am incredibly grateful to be alive. I have the device fitted now, and I almost feel invincible.”