The latest update from the hospital: Bolton's Fabrice Muamba remains in a critical condition in intensive care at the London Chest Hospital.
As long as he was getting efficient CPR and defibrillation he could still fully recover. But he probably wo't play football again unless they can find and resolve the initial problem, otherwise he'd be at risk of the same thing happening again. It does show how far emergency medical care at sports arenas has come in just a few years - the care Muamba got on the pitch is almost certain to have been the difference between life and death when compared to others like Foe and Feher.
The point I was actually trying to make is that he will likely be unable to do much at all, let alone play again. Poor choice of words, muchos apologies.
I may be wrong but I was under the impression through first aid training (I'm the first aider at work) That the longer the brain goes without blood, the more damage it does to it. 2 hours is an awful long time to not have blood pumping through the brain.
Just got in from a weekender and been hearing the news via radio.Prayers go out to his friends an fam. an all the Bolton fans.Hope the guy gets better soon. Puts football into perspective.
This is true, but when you are receiving chest compressions from a professional paramedic, or even a relatively competent first aider, you generally get enough blood to the brain to prevent brain damage. That's one of the reasons BHF are running that campaign with Vinnie Jones - to convince people just to try and keep blood going whilst waiting for an ambulance rather than just sitting around watching. It helps that the body shuts down most external circulation when starved of blood oxygen so his arms and legs will be pretty ****ed for a while, but vital organs and brain should stay ok.
Yeah that's right, it took 6-7 mins to get his heart started again but it was about 2 hours before it was beating on it's own strength. It's really sad what has happened. He's unlikely he will make a full recovery but he's only 23, so hopefully he will recover enough to have a decent life ahead of him. It all depends on the extent of the damage those 6-7 mins without oxygen will have done to his brain and what parts of his brain have been been affected.
Heard on Sky, that his condition has had small improvements and his heart is now beating without any medication. Hope it's true.
From Bolton website. "Fabrice Muamba remains in intensive care at The London Chest Hospital. He is continuing to show signs of improvement this evening. He is currently able to breathe independently without the aid of a ventilator. He has also been able to recognise family members and respond to questions appropriately. These are all positive signs of progress. However, his condition remains serious and the medical staff in intensive care will continue to monitor and treat him. His family and club would like to thank the media for continuing to respect their privacy at this time" Hopefully he'll pull through.
