LONDON: Those people who don’t believe in miracles should ask Fabrice Muamba, the Bolton Wanderers midfielder told The Times after his extraordinary recovery from nearly dying of cardiac arrest two months ago.
The 24-year-old Zaire-born (now Democratic Republic of Congo) former England Under-21 international is back on his feet and recovering after he suffered cardiac arrest during the FA Cup tie with Spurs on March 17 where he was attended to for 78 minutes by a heart specialist who was at the match as a spectator.
He was then taken to the London Chest Hospital where he was deemed highly unlikely to survive but instead he has made such rapid progess that he attended Bolton’s home game with Spurs earlier this week and then the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) awards.
“This is a miracle, I am a living witness of a miracle,” said Muamba, who received thousands of cards from all round the world including a signed jersey from NBA great Lebron James.
“You don’t believe in miracles? Ask me, I will tell you how it is.”
His fiancee Shauna, who was watching the match on television with their three-year-old boy Joshua when the incident happened, said that he would be dead but for the Bolton club doctor Jonathan Tobin insisting on keeping going.
“Seventy eight minutes is a long time to try and revive anyone,” said Shauna, who operates a West Indian catering business from their home.
“It was only the personal connection between Dr Tobin and Fabrice that kept them going. Dr Tobin told me that. They thought about stopping twice but Dr Tobin said ‘Not let’s try again’. And they kept on trying until they saved his life.”
Muamba, who was fitted with a defibrilator, said he had no idea what had happened to him.
“When I woke up I saw Shauna in this hospital gown,” said Muamba.
“All I remember thinking is, “What the fxxx is going on here? She explained everything that happened and I couldn’t believe it.
“Me? Really? Did I really die?”
Muamba, who on arriving from the DRC aged 11 could just say ‘How are you?’ in English but has gone on to pass 10 GCSE’s and take a Open University course in mathematics and business, says that there are still things which don’t come easily to him. “I’ve still got a long way to go with the memory and it frustrates me,” he said. (Agencies)