By Andrew Warshaw
April 17 – Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba has paid tribute to the medical staff who kept him alive after he was pronounced clinically dead for 78 minutes when collapsing with a cardiac arrest in a cup game at Tottenham Hotspur.
Just one month after the incident on March 17, Muamba (pictured with his son) was discharged from hospital yesterday and thanked “every single member of staff who played a part in my care.”
“Their dedication, professionalism and expertise is simply amazing and I will forever be in their debt,” he said.
“I also wish to say thank you to all the many well-wishers who have sent thousands of messages of support.”
Muamba collapsed after 41 minutes of the FA Cup quarterfinal tie with Spurs and was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and 15 defibrillator shocks before he arrived at the intensive care unit of the heart attack centre at the London Chest Hospital.
The rush for the first full interview with Muamba is likely to intensify following his release but a statement issued by Bolton manager Owen Coyle urged the media to give him the space to recover with his family as he comes to terms with his condition and how it might affect his career.
“It is important that Fabrice and his family are now given time and space to be together, and we would ask the media to continue to respect their privacy,” said Coyle.
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