LONDON - The medical team treating Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba can breathe a sigh of relief. The development of Muamba's health recovery continues to lead to a positive graph. Muamba is said to have been able to communicate with the people around him, Wednesday (21/3) local time.
The cardiologist who treats Muamba, Sam Mohiddin, said there was very little hope of seeing Muamba recover soon. However, he also revealed that the progress of Muamba's recovery had been extraordinary, considering that the 23-year-old's heart had stopped for 78 minutes.
The positive news also provides certainty to Bolton regarding the next match in the Premier League. The home game against Blackburn Rovers at Reebok Stadium will continue. In addition, the follow-up match against Tottenham Hotspurs in the quarter-finals of the A Cup which was stopped in the 41st minute will also be continued on Tuesday (27/3).
"Fabrice continues to show positive signals and he has not only exceeded our expectations, but also our expectations. Keep in mind, this is still too early, because the recovery period is still long," said Mohiddin.
The match medics and Bolton went to great lengths to provide first aid to Muamba as soon as he fell in the middle of the pitch. Muamba was rushed to the London Chest Hopital moments later. More serious treatment was carried out at the hospital to save Muamba's life.
Several facts were revealed by Bolton's team doctor, Jonathan Tobin, regarding the tense incident last weekend. He admitted to working hard for 48 minutes before reaching the hospital. Arriving at the hospital, after 30 minutes of treatment, Muamba was still unconscious and there were no signs of activity in Muamba's heart. In total, Muamba's heart stopped for 78 minutes.
"Effectively he was dead by then. Fabrice is the type of heart disease patient where his heart shows a lot of electrical activity but no muscle activity. Sometimes it reacts with drugs or shock therapy," Tobin said.
"Now it's known why, but, in total, Fabrice received 15 shock treatments. He got another 12 in the ambulance."
Regarding the midfielder's recent condition, Tobin said that now Muamba has shown positive indications towards recovery. "I visited him last night. When I came he said "Hi, Doc". I asked how he was and he said he was "good"," Tobin
"I explained to him what happened, that's the communication I had with Fabrice. We were afraid something bad would happen and haven't thought about the recovery he's going through. It's incredible," Tobin explained.
The more happy news was delivered by former France captain Thierry Henry. Henry came directly from the United States (US) to get the opportunity to accompany Muamba for about an hour. "Fabrice is in stable condition and can speak perfectly," said Henry.
