For the second consecutive week, the European leagues have shown why they are the best in all ramifications. Every detail of the game is beyond just playing it to create excitement and entertainment. It is addressed to further reassure the active participants in the game that their lives are treasured with top-of-the-range medical equipment and personnel to man the gadgets with the swiftness of sound.
For most followers of the English game, especially in the elite class, a fixture involving Bournemouth and Luton wasn’t one to kiss the headlines in the media, not for the game’s final result, but for the scary moments of the sudden fall of Luton’s captain, Tom Lockyer, in the 65th minute with the scores at a goal apiece.
Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest during Saturday’s Premier League match at Bournemouth. This unfortunate incident brought to the fore the attention of the organisers of the game in terms of providing adequate, modern, and functional medical facilities at match venues. Lockyer’s cardiac arrest exposed the quality of medical facilities that the two teams (Luton and Bournemouth had with them right there on the pitch.
In fact, what high-quality medical gadgets that both teams had including the presence of renowned doctor’s have been heralded globally as one of the reasons, if not the major reason that Lockyer is alive today. There was nothing like sachets of pure water for the distressed player on the turf. Players didn’t crowd Lockyer to block the flow of fresh air to him. Nor was there the unhygienic setting where the players freely fanned Lockyer with their sweat-soaked jersey tops in their damp and dingy conditions to further suffocate him.
Luton’s manager, Rob Edwards, has also been praised after he sprinted onto the pitch and waved players away to allow paramedics to reach Lockyer as quickly as possible. The boss could be seen shouting “away, away” to players of both teams.
Medical staff gave Lockyer CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and used an AED (automated external defibrillator). The combination of the two teams’ medical crew saved his life due to the speed at which they mobilised for prompt action. The 29-year-old was responsive as he was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Indeed, medical records attest to the fact that 90 percent of cardiac arrests suffered outside of hospital are fatal. Those who ensured that Lockyer remained responsive and stable before he was wheeled out of the pitch and even inside the stadium’s medical centre, almost the equivalent of what you can find in any high-tech hospital justified their competencies on the job.
Why the medical teams were battling to save Lockyer’s life, you needed to see how the fans rose in unionism to sing songs in Locker’s name and the thunderous sound from fans who clapped to celebrate a clear improvement on what they had seen when Lockyer fell on the turf and was being resuscitated. I was moved to tears as I watched the emotional scenes playing out on the pitch.
My mind raced to the Nigerian setting, asking would Lockyer have survived. I unconsciously hissed because the two Nigerian teams’ medical crew would have found out that their cylinders of oxygen were empty, while standing over the distressed player, wondering how the oxygen evaporated from the rusty cylinders they carried. My mind’s eye created the scenes where players of both teams would have crowded the player, while taking their turns to fan him with their smelly shirts soaked in sweat. Don’t ask me what the condition of the stretcher would have been, if it was in Nigeria. I’ve been told that the Davidson Owumi-led NPFL has changed the narrative of the domestic game. I want to believe them.
What bowled me over was the frequency in the dissemination of information about the game being suspended before the message was abandoned.
Premier League Rule L15 dictates that any game abandoned with the consent of the match officials will be replayed in full – rather than picking up where the previous fixture left off – with a new date and kick-off time set to be arranged, as reported by Daily Mail. In the case of a suspended game, it would continue 24 hours after both teams would have agreed on it being suspended.
The fans waited for the most pleasing news about Lockyer’s health. So, when the message came that Lockyer was responsive and stable, players of the two teams moved around the field clapping. The excited spectators joined in the chorus celebrating Lockyer’s recovery. Mention must be made of how the fans sat on their seat edges in a pensive mood waiting for the good news that Lockyer was alive. This writer looks forward to the day when the game will be replayed with fit Lockyer standing on the centre circle of the field fighting back tears, while waving to fans most of whom were at the stadium when he collapsed.
At some points of the parade of the players and coaches of both sides, one would have thought that the story was bad with the way Luton’s manager fought back tears, while doing his lap of honour. Luton’s manager could barely utter the word ‘thank you’ You could only tell by reading his lips with his eyes bloodshot. Welcome back to the world of reality, Lockyer. One only hopes that he could heed the doctors’ advice about his future in the game after this scary experience.
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Penultimate Sunday in the Spanish league, the news flash read that the game between Granada FC and Athletic Bilbao had been halted because of an incident where fans sat. It was sketchy, but the attention was turned to that Spanish La Liga game to find out what transpired to halt the match. With time, the news changed, stating that Granada and Athletic Bilbao agreed to suspend the La Liga fixture after the tragic death of a fan in the stands at Los Carmenes.
“From the Entity, we want to send our most sincere condolences to the family and friends, as well as to the entire Granada family,” read the statement from the home side.
“The match between Granada CF and Athletic Bilbao was suspended after the death of a subscriber of our Club.”
Athletic Bilbao added via their official social media accounts: “La Liga and the two clubs have agreed to call off the match due to the death of a fan at Los Cármenes. Athletic Bilbao expresses its deepest condolences. Our thoughts are with the person’s family and loved ones.”
This writer was very impressed with the way the dead fan was treated and the respect he got, the suspension of the game for 24 hours, is extremely commendable. It also showed that the organisers and the two participating teams had a working synergy worthy of thunderous applause. Again, fans have been credited with a lot of importance.
If you thought that such scary medical situations with one of them leading to the death of a fan in Spain, dear readers, then let me share this scene that occurred in the Dutch League. According to the Reuters media platform: ” Ajax Amsterdam’s Dutch league away game against RKC Waalwijk, was abandoned in the 84th minute on Saturday after RKC’s goalkeeper, Etienne Vaessen was knocked out in a clash with an opposing player.
‘’Vaessen went down after a collision with Ajax’s forward, Brian Brobbey, causing panicky reactions from his teammates as they frantically called for medical help. Screens were put up around the goalkeeper to shield him from the public eye and players from both sides watched with tears in their eyes as a defibrillator was rushed onto the field.”
“Etienne was knocked out for a while,” RKC’s director, Frank van Mosselveld, told broadcaster NOS about an hour after the incident.
“Our medical staff started reanimation straightaway, but it looked like it wasn’t a problem with his heart. He was conscious again when he left the field, but he did not know where he was, ” The Reuters report concluded.
In these incidents, modern medical technology triumphed. The medical crew at the stadium in both incidents knew their onions and applied the rules of their profession to the letter. No room for emotions. No margins for errors, God forbid.
