By David Gold
March 22 – Bolton Wanderers will play their weekend Premier League clash with Blackburn Rovers and the abandoned FA Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur next week after stricken midfielder Fabrice Muamba’s family encouraged the club to do so.
Muamba is continuing his remarkable recovery from a cardiac arrest at the London Chest Hospital, and yesterday the Bolton club doctor, Jonathan Tobin (pictured), said the player had effectively been dead for 78 minutes.
It was 48 minutes from when Muamba collapsed, minutes before half time, to when he reached the hospital on Saturday night (March 17).
It took 30 minutes until his heart had a muscular beat again.
“[Eighty minutes] without his heart beating and without him breathing – in effect he was dead in that time,” Tobin said.
Bolton had cancelled their midweek clash with Aston Villa as they awaited news of Muamba’s condition.
The player has since started speaking again and his family have said they want the club to continue their fixtures.
The player remains in intensive care during his recovery.
Bolton play Blackburn on Saturday afternoon (March 24) and will be playing the game with Tottenham on Tuesday evening (March 27) at White Hart Lane.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734847805labto1734847805ofdlr1734847805owedi1734847805sni@d1734847805log.d1734847805ivad1734847805
Related stories
March 2012: Fabrice Muamba talking and showing positive signs
March 2012: Andrew Warshaw – Incidents like Saturday’s remind us that football is not more important than life or death
March 2012: Fabrice Muamba fights for life after collapse at Tottenham v Bolton game