Luton Town Captain Tom Lockyer recalls near-death experience as he shows off 'life-saving' device
Luton Town captain shows his new heart device on Good Morning Britain which is designed to keep his heart beating normally
Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has recalled the moment he collapsed on the pitch during a match in December.
The Welsh international collapsed during the Hatters' Premier League fixture away at Bournemouth on 16 December.
Speaking to Good Morning Britian, the Luton Town Captain recalled the moment he collapsed after feeling "incredibly light-headed.
He said: "I remember thinking 'I'll be fine in a second' and that is the last thing I remember apart from waking up on the floor. I wasn't able to move, I couldn't speak - I was just trying to make sense of where I was.
"It felt like an eternity.
"That's when I was like, wow I could be dying here - which is obviously not a very nice thought to have."
The 29-year-old has now had a defibrillator device fitted to keep his heart beating normally.
The device can detect dangerous irregular heartbeats and restore a regular heart rhythm by administering small electric shocks.
The incident at Bournemouth was the second time in just over six months that the 29-year-old had collapsed on the field, after having suffered atrial fibrillation during May's Championship play-off final.
The Luton Town captain also thanked the "life-saving" professionals on the day that "helped save my life" after his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds.
"I was so lucky that it happened where it happened - where there were trained medical people who knew CPR.
"If it was to happen outside of hospital, a football pitch, the survival rate is only 1 in 10."
Lockyer told GMB 'if you don't know CPR, please learn it'
Lockyer is calling for more people to learn CPR.
He said: "Picture yourself - if it was one of your family members that has a cardiac arrest and you don't know what to do. How would you feel? 15 minutes is all it takes to learn.
"The British Heart Foundation website has a tool on there called RevivR and it's 15 minutes.
"If you don't know CPR, please learn it. 15 minutes is all it takes. In the time of one match, 90 minutes, five people in the UK have a cardiac arrest so please learn CPR."
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Mr Lockyer said he is not ruling out playing football again but says he will follow medical advice.
"If there's a chance I would like to but that would have to be in complete safe circumstances and it's way too early to decide that right now," he said.
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