# Fabrice Muamba collapses on field **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 17, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081 "2012-03-17T22:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/1 "2012-03-17T22:12:50Z")
[Looks like this 23 year old had a friggin’ heart attack](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOC_BOLTON_MUAMBA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-17-17-55-09)! The game was halted immediately as two members of the opposing team called for medical personnel. Muamba was taken to a hospital where he is in the critical care unit. To the great credit of the officials and the league, the game was abandoned. I am not a soccer fan, but I’m very impressed with how this was handled by everyone, and I hope that Mr. Muamba recovers quickly and fully. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/2 "2012-03-18T00:23:35Z")
Dat’s not good ☹ Cool that they called off the game, though. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/3 "2012-03-18T01:27:30Z")
Not a football fan either but it’s sad to hear of such a young and apparently fit man being struck down in this way. It was heartening to hear that opposing fans joined in with chanting his name as he was carried off the pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/4 "2012-03-18T01:33:47Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > It was heartening to hear that opposing fans joined in with chanting his name as he was carried off the pitch. I’ve seen the video of him on the field, and he was conscious but clearly in distress. It’s nice to see that soccer fans, often noted for their partisan brawls, can also be moved to displays of compassion. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/5 "2012-03-18T03:10:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve seen the video of him on the field, and he was conscious but clearly in distress. It’s nice to see that soccer fans, often noted for their partisan brawls, can also be moved to displays of compassion. Every report I’ve seen is that he wasn’t breathing when carried off the field. Apparently he’s stable now though. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/6 "2012-03-18T03:40:10Z")
Aye, the video of him on the field was taken down from youtube (apparently they have a new policy of “no videos that might do something other than make people laugh mildly”). At first, he was face down, and shaking/convulsing. You could see him sort of raise his right arm, then kick his right leg a bit. Somebody rolled him over shortly before the medical people got there, then they started pumping his chest, a procedure they continued for several minutes, including the whole time they were wheeling him off the field. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/7 "2012-03-18T07:18:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye, the video of him on the field was taken down from youtube (apparently they have a new policy of “no videos that might do something other than make people laugh mildly”). > > At first, he was face down, and shaking/convulsing. You could see him sort of raise his right arm, then kick his right leg a bit. Somebody rolled him over shortly before the medical people got there, then they started pumping his chest, a procedure they continued for several minutes, including the whole time they were wheeling him off the field. First, I hope the young man is okay. That is a fucking scary video. Second, I’m heartened that everyone involved reacted with compassion. Third, WTF!?! Carried off the pitch to a stretcher with wheels?!? And then presumably to an ambulance? Is the football pitch so sacrosanct that a cart can’t be driven over or onto it? Why the fuck was a man in cardiac arrest carried off the field on a stretcher to then be transferred to a “wheeled stretcher”? What am I missing here? ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/8 "2012-03-18T07:40:48Z")
To elaborate, at 6:55 of this video [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI37VW9kKWU) the commentator refers to the "stretcher with wheels waiting on the apron of the pitch. Why the fuck wasn’t the gurney out on the pitch? For that matter, why the fuck wasn’t the ambulance out on the pitch? Moving a critically ill/injured person from one platform to another almost always complicates the situation. The fewer transfers, the better. So why the fuck wasn’t an ambulance or at least a gurney on the pitch? ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/9 "2012-03-18T08:34:57Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > So why the fuck wasn’t an ambulance or at least a gurney on the pitch? Football pitches don’t generally have easy road access, and are often not just grassy but somewhat uneven for the small wheels on a trolley. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/10 "2012-03-18T08:56:11Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Football pitches don’t generally have easy road access, and are often not just grassy but somewhat uneven for the small wheels on a trolley. I’d buy that if there wasn’t a gurney waiting on the verge. And it’s not like the John Deere Gator is unknown in the UK, especially in a context that requires so much grounds keeping. Hell, it has its own website: [http://www.deere.co.uk/wps/dcom/en\_GB/products/equipment/gator\_utility\_vehicles/gator\_utility\_vehicles.page](http://www.deere.co.uk/wps/dcom/en_GB/products/equipment/gator_utility_vehicles/gator_utility_vehicles.page) ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/11 "2012-03-18T09:43:54Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Looks like this 23 year old had a friggin’ heart attack](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOC_BOLTON_MUAMBA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-17-17-55-09)! > > The game was halted immediately as two members of the opposing team called for medical personnel. Muamba was taken to a hospital where he is in the critical care unit. To the great credit of the officials and the league, the game was abandoned. > > I am not a soccer fan, but I’m very impressed with how this was handled by everyone, and I hope that Mr. Muamba recovers quickly and fully. Technically it was a Cup game, so the League had no say in the matter. Nice to see though, I remember waking up and turning on a match a few years ago, so I started watching at half time, and the commentators just mentioned that someone had died in the first half, just dropped dead on the pitch. Kept playing. Confederations Cup match, I think, Senegal playing. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/12 "2012-03-18T16:06:26Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Technically it was a Cup game, so the League had no say in the matter. Nice to see though, I remember waking up and turning on a match a few years ago, so I started watching at half time, and the commentators just mentioned that someone had died in the first half, just dropped dead on the pitch. Kept playing. Confederations Cup match, I think, Senegal playing. That was the match between Cameroon and Colombia in the Cup semi-final. Cameroon won, but they did continue the match. A quick look shows that Marc Vivian Foe was officially subbed out, which just seems weird. I’m not interested in watching any video of it, but maybe he wasn’t completely out of it when he collapsed. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/13 "2012-03-19T01:35:14Z")
The outpouring of support throughout the European football world has been [remarkable](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17423843). Seems like everyone who’s ever been in contact with him has nothing but kind words to say. Not even statements like “we may have had our differences in the past…” Just “what a lovely guy”. He’s still ‘critically ill’ though. I fear the family’s going to have to make a difficult decision soon. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/14 "2012-03-19T21:13:01Z")
Great news about Muamba. Reports state that he’s alert, breathing on his own, speaking, and recognizes his family. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/15 "2012-03-20T04:28:54Z")
Wow, that’s amazing. Fingers crossed for him. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/16 "2012-03-20T11:28:57Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > To elaborate, at 6:55 of this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI37VW9kKWU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI37VW9kKWU) the commentator refers to the "stretcher with wheels waiting on the apron of the pitch. Do they show the stretcher, tho, and is it a complete one? Most of the ones I’ve seen in Spain can separate in two parts (wheeled frame and stretcher), for use in places where the stretcher alone is easier to manage than the whole thing. Carrying him in a stretcher to a wheeled frame waiting on the paved “tunnel” could cause less pain and be faster than pushing a wheeled stretcher over the field, plus you get to roll him over to the stretcher rather than having to lift him up to it. Most people don’t bother distinguish between the whole ensemble, the stretcher and the wheeled frame. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fabrice-muamba-collapses-on-field/616081/17 "2012-03-21T17:37:22Z")
Muamba’s recovery is turning into an incredible story. He’s not out of the woods yet but the physicians’ reports on what happened on Saturday are amazing. > [@](#): > > Fabrice Muamba was “in effect dead” for 78 minutes following his on-field collapse, the Bolton Wanderers club doctor Jonathan Tobin has revealed. … > > (Consultant Cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner): "If I was ever going to use the term miraculous it could be used here. He has made a remarkable recovery so far. > > Two hours after [regaining consciousness] I whispered in his ear, ‘What’s your name?’ and he said, ‘Fabrice Muamba’. I said, ‘I hear you’re a really good footballer’ and he said, ‘I try’. I had a tear in my eye."