Sligo Weekender
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Sligo soccer fans asked to support Cardiac Charity
A Dublin soccer player who suffered a heart attack on the pitch six months ago is asking Sligo soccer fans to support the charity who funded the centre which saved his life. John Doyle from Inchicore was just 27 when he collapsed on the pitch while playing in the Leinster League with St Patrick’s Athletic FC.
He was revived by defibrillator and brought to Tallaght Hospital becoming a patient at the Centre for Cardiac Risk in the Young funded by the charity CRY.
“It started off as a normal Sunday morning preparing for a game, having a laugh with team-mates and doing a warm up. Our game was roughly 15 minutes in which I started to struggle breathing”. Recalls John.
“I started to feel dizzy and I couldn’t see properly. I got to my hunkers and signaled to the sideline of my problem and the next thing I remember is being wheeled into a ward in Tallaght hospital later that evening.”
John’s experiences were replicated last month when Bolton player Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch during their match with Spurs, having suffered a cardiac arrest.
His heart required 78 minutes of treatment, including numerous defibrillator shocks, to get beating again.
The following weekend, special tshirts supporting the charity CRY were worn by Sligo Rovers in the warm-up for their Dundalk match. Tshirts were also worn in eight other Airtricity League matches held that weekend.
According to CRY (www.cry.ie): “Over 5,000 people suffer sudden cardiac death in Ireland each year, of which 60 to 80 are young people under 35 years of age.”
You can give a donation to CRY via their website and you can highlight the work of the charity joining their facebook page.