Victim of a heart attack in the middle of a match, this professional football player now has a very impressive defibrillator under his skin.
When you are a high-level athlete, health is an essential element for a successful career. This is why traditionally and even obligatory, players undergo a medical examination before signing their contract to rule out possible injuries or anomalies.
Unfortunately, for some, cardiac abnormalities are detected, putting an end to their career. This is the case of former football glories like Lilian Thuram or Sergio Aguero, but also, in other disciplines, like Tatiana Golovin in tennis or Romain Sicard in cycling.
For others, problems are not detected directly and occur in the middle of a competition or match. Tom Lockyer, captain of the English team at Luton, suffered a cardiac arrest on the Bournemouth pitch on December 16.
The Welshman had already suffered a cardiac arrest on May 27, 2023, during a Championship match against Coventry. His club announced upon his release from the hospital that he had been “equipped with an implantable cardiac defibrillator in order to prevent the incident […] from happening again. On the Sky Sport set, the player revealed this cutaneous defibrillator that he has now implanted in his body. The result is a large growth under the player’s arm, at the height of the ribs on the left side. Unusual and quite impressive images that caused a lot of reaction across the Channel.
After this dramatic event, the latter said he was lucky at the microphone of Sky Sport. “I’m doing well, I’m incredibly lucky to be here, I’m doing really well. It’s nice to be able to say that I’m doing well, I think everyone deserves to know that and see me really doing well. I was a little disoriented. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I was trying to understand what was happening. While it was happening, I remember thinking, ‘I could die here’.”
But for now, this defibrillator does not ensure his return to the field. “It’s not up to me. The medical staff and specialists will dictate what I do. If there is a chance that I can play again – and I won’t do anything against medical advice – then I would love to do it . But it’s way too early to tell. There is some testing that needs to happen in the background. But I wouldn’t rule it out just yet. If I’m not allowed to play again, I can say that I have captained Luton in the Premier League and scored a goal in the Premier League. I’m very lucky to have had some highlights in my career and scoring a goal in the Premier League is something you dream of when you’re child,” explained the player.
