Tom Lockyer of Wales and Luton reunited with the medics who saved his life

Former Wales Tom Lockyer has been reunited with medical staff who saved his life when he was arrested.

The 30 -year -old was making Luton Town in a Premier League match in Bournemouth on 16 December 2023 When he fell in the middle of the game.

His heart stopped, but was re -established by health care operators from the Southwest ambulance service after two minutes and 41 seconds.

A meeting of Paramedi service operators, Dean Fernee and Abbey Clarke at the Bournemouth threats, Lockyer said: “I had my heroes that night.”

“You didn’t answer anything we asked you. Thanks because everyone was there as a team very quickly we were able to act quickly,” he told Lockyer.

For the first time, the lockyer was told it was a common practice for remote team medals to summarize their home counterparts on any issues and players.

So the Bournemouth medals were also very quick to suspect that it was a heart problem.

The 16-cap player Wales remembers waking up after the defibrillator was used and was able to hear people talk to him, but he couldn’t answer.

He said: “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk. I was thinking ‘I’m good’ but nothing was coming out.

“I remember in that moment thinking ‘I can die here’, which is obviously not a good feeling to have.”

She remembers wanting to wake up to allow the crowd, which included her father and her girlfriend – who was seven months pregnant – that she was okay.

Mr Fernee remembered how 11,000 fans were silent: “There was no realization of the crowd until we took you. That’s when it hit home that everyone was there.”

Ms Clarke added: “You are getting ready and put your head down and in the end it was Tom in front of us, he is still sick and we must ignore everyone else around us and we just need to give him the life -saving service he needed at that time.”

Born lockyer Cardiff – who now has a small defibrillator inserted into his chest if he is caught with another heart – has not been able to return to play since Damage the ankle veins just one week before returning to the stage for the first time since the fall.

He admits his life has changed, telling BBC’s breakfast: “After what happened was very hard mentally, because for 20 years I had been Tom Lockyer the football, and that was captured from me immediately.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself, who really, it was an identity problem.”

Lockyer is now the Ambassador of the British Heart Association and wants to promote Revival Training, saying it takes 15 minutes to visit the charity web site and learn what to do.

He said: “I had my heroes that night, but you can be a hero to the person you love and don’t let 15 minutes of your time let that happen.

“You can save someone’s life and the possibility is that it will probably be someone you know and love.”

It was a guest team, very trained and stimulated, who treated him that night and he is a living, breathing model of what a quick response can be reached.