Luton captain Tom Lockyer said he thought he would die after his heart stopped in the 59th minute of a match against Bournemouth in mid-December.
The 29-year-old opened up on his experiences in an interview with Sky Sports before Luton’s clash with Manchester United. He said his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds.
“Obviously since I’ve been looking back thinking ‘could it have been this, could it have been that’, but it was just a normal day,” he said. “That’s probably the most worrying thing about it.
“I have been searching for answers, but as far as I was aware it was just a normal day at the office. It was going well until what happened happened.
Lockyer on “different” heart issue
Lockyer had collapsed on the pitch before, with the last incident occurring in May during Luton’s playoff final at Wembley. He’s had a cardiac device implanted to record irregular heart beats.
“It was well documented and it happened in May as well, but I knew instantly this time was different,” he added.
“Last time I woke up from almost a dream and this time I woke up from nearly nothingness. I could see straight away [from] the paramedics and the physios and club doc that there was a bit more panic.”
“I was a bit disorientated, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move and I was just trying to work out what was happening. While that was going on, I remember thinking ‘I could die here’.”
“It was a surreal thought to have and not being able to move and respond.”
Lockyer said the incident was “quite a hard mix of emotions” but thanked the paramedics, club doctor and physios for saving his life.
Family emotions
“You can do all the training in the world, but when I spoke to them they said the hardest thing was knowing me as a person. There was real emotion with everything that was going on.”
The Welshman also said the incident had impacted his family, with his father and girlfriend, who was seven months pregnant at the time of the game, present at Kenilworth Road. His mother was listening to the game through the radio before his brother turned it off due to Lockyer’s collapse.
“It’s things like this that are the bigger picture which people don’t see and that’s probably the hardest thing to deal with,” he said.
Lockyer said he has since spoken to Christian Eriksen, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a Euros 2020 fixture between Denmark and Finland. He has also received advice from Girona’s Daley Blind and Rotherham United’s Charlie Wyke, who have both suffered from similar heart problems.
Lockyer said he hopes to return to football but the main advice he received was to take the time out necessary.
“If there is a chance I could play again, and I am not going to do anything against medical advice, then I would love to.”
He also praised Rob Edwards for his support as the manager visited Lockyer’s family home.
“I couldn’t speak any higher of the man if I tried,” he said. “It makes you want to run through brick walls for him.”