Former Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer, who survived a cardiac arrest during a Premier League match against Bournemouth, has returned to his boyhood club, Bristol Rovers.
Lockyer began his professional football career with the Bristol-based club and now returns to top-level sport nearly two years after the life-threatening incident.
Lockyer revealed that his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds during the on-pitch cardiac arrest, which put his life in grave danger.
He collapsed in the second half of Luton’s Premier League game against Bournemouth on December 16.
The 29-year-old was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator after being hospitalised for five days following the incident.
Wales defender Lockyer, who also collapsed
during Luton’s Championship play-off final victory against Coventry last season, discussed his near-death experience before his club’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday.
“It was just a normal day, which made it more worrying because I felt completely fine,” he told Sky Sports.
“I was running towards the halfway line and suddenly felt very light-headed. I thought I’d be okay in a moment, but I wasn’t.
“I woke up with paramedics around me. I knew instantly this was different from my collapse in May. Last time, it felt like waking up from a dream; this time, it felt like waking up from nothingness.
“I sensed more panic, and I was disoriented. I couldn’t speak or move. I was trying to understand what was happening, and I remember thinking, ‘I could be dying here’.”
Lockyer was eventually revived after two minutes and 40 seconds that nearly cost him his life.
“I could feel them inserting the drip in my arm, and it was an overwhelming mix of emotions. When I finally came around and could speak and respond, I felt relieved to be alive,” he said.
“After what happened in May, I have a recording device in my chest, and I was out for two minutes and 40 seconds.”
Lockyer said his family’s distress during the ordeal made his recovery even harder to process.
He had an emotional reunion with his teammates at the club’s training ground last month.
