May 6th 2024.
In the world of football, there are a few names that are instantly recognizable to fans all over the world. Graeme Souness, David Ginola, and Glenn Hoddle are some of these names. These former players have all achieved great success on the field, but they have also had to face a common enemy - life-threatening heart conditions.
Along with other well-known faces such as Tom Lockyer, Megan Tinsley, and Charlie Wyke, these players have joined forces with the British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet for the Every Minute Matters campaign. This campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of CPR training and hopes to recruit 270,000 people in the next 12 months. That's equivalent to filling three Wembley stadiums!
Every Minute Matters encourages everyone to take just 15 minutes, the length of a halftime break, to learn CPR using the online tool RevivR provided by the charity. Sky Bet has also pledged to donate up to £3 million to support the BHF's work, starting with a donation of £10,000 for every goal scored during the Sky Bet Play-Offs. The Play-Offs began on Friday and will conclude with three exciting finals at England's national stadium later this month.
One of the former players involved in this campaign is Graeme Souness, 70, who was diagnosed with coronary heart disease at the young age of 38. In 2015, he suffered a heart attack, which had a profound impact on his life. In an interview with The Agency, Souness opened up about his experience and said, "I was 30, I was fit, I was training vigorously, and had a good lifestyle after being in football since the age of 15 professionally. So when I was diagnosed it was a real shock to me."
He shared that he had to undergo an operation, but 20 years later, he suffered a heart attack. He recalled, "I knew what was happening to me, I was conscious. I can remember the worst part about it was I couldn't speak. You know you can't speak. Then I remember going in the ambulance and being treated on the table with the doctor trying to get a stent into me. He couldn't get it in, so that was a bit disappointing, but I'm here to talk about it."
On the other end of the age spectrum is 26-year-old Megan Tinsley, a defender for Derby County. She had her career put on hold on medical advice and had an implantable loop recorder placed in her chest to monitor her heart rhythm and rate. This came 20 years after she had undergone surgery to fix a hole in her heart. Tinsley recalled the moment she knew something was wrong, "I ran from the edge of our 18-yard box all the way up to the halfway line, which I've done so many times over the years. But this time, I wasn't able to run back. It was almost as if someone was pulling my shirt, thinking you are not going to get back."
She shared that her heart was pounding, and she felt like something was seriously wrong. She said, "I've never experienced that before. So I thought, I'm going to go and get myself checked out. I had a 24-hour heart rate monitor on, they reviewed it, and said at 2 am in the morning, your heart beat eight times in two seconds. I asked, 'What does that mean?' and she said, 'Basically, you've had something called a ventricular tachycardia. I don't want to scare you, but you've basically had a mini heart attack in your sleep.'"
Glenn Hoddle, 66, a former Tottenham Hotspur legend, also joined the campaign. He shared that he was saved thanks to the quick thinking of BT sound engineer Simon Daniels. Hoddle suffered a cardiac arrest in a London TV studio and was taken to the hospital for emergency heart surgery on his 61st birthday. He recalled, "Simon was there as a sound engineer who was trained in CPR, and basically, the reason I am sitting here now is because he did his CPR and saved my life."
He expressed his gratitude towards the campaign, saying, "The campaign is just marvelous because it is going to save people's lives. We've all gone through similar experiences, and we wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for CPR."
Finally, on May 16, 2016, former Newcastle United and Spurs star David Ginola, 57, collapsed while playing a charity football match in the south of France. His sudden collapse was due to a cardiac arrest, and he fell into a coma. Reflecting on the experience, Ginola said, "When you collapse on the football pitch, and your heart stops beating, you are dead. Someone is pumping your chest, performing CPR for 10 minutes. It is a very strange experience, a very awkward one, but I have been very lucky to have someone who knew how to perform CPR."
Coming up next, we have some of the biggest names in the world of football – Graeme Souness, David Ginola, and Glenn Hoddle. These legends of the game may have had different careers and paths, but they are all united by a common enemy – life-threatening heart conditions.
As former players, they have all experienced firsthand the impact of these conditions. But instead of letting it defeat them, they have joined forces with other famous faces like Tom Lockyer, Megan Tinsley, and Charlie Wyke to raise awareness about the importance of CPR training. This is all being done in partnership with the British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet's Every Minute Matters campaign.
Their goal is to recruit 270,000 people in the next 12 months – that's the equivalent of three Wembley stadiums – to learn life-saving CPR. This campaign urges everyone to take just 15 minutes – the length of a half-time interval – to learn CPR using the charity's online tool, RevivR.
But that's not all. Sky Bet has also pledged to donate up to £3 million to support the BHF's work. And it all starts with a donation of £10,000 for every goal scored during the Sky Bet Play-Offs. This initiative kicked off on Friday and will culminate in three exciting finals at England's national stadium later this month.
One of the former players leading this charge is Graeme Souness, who was diagnosed with coronary heart disease at the young age of 38. He also suffered a heart attack in 2015, which was a wake-up call for him. In an interview with The Agency, he shared his experience and the impact it has had on his life. He said, "I was 30, fit, and living a healthy lifestyle after playing football professionally since the age of 15. So when I was diagnosed, it was a shock. I had an operation, but then 20 years later, I had an attack. I was conscious the whole time, but the worst part was not being able to speak. I remember going in the ambulance and the doctor trying to get a stent in, but unfortunately, it didn't work. But here I am today, able to talk about it."
On the other end of the age spectrum, we have 26-year-old Derby County defender Megan Tinsley. She had her football career put on hold due to medical advice and had an implantable loop recorder placed in her chest to monitor her heart rhythm and rate. This came 20 years after she had surgery to fix a hole in her heart. She recalled the moment she knew something was wrong, saying, "I ran from the edge of our 18-yard box to the halfway line – something I've done countless times before. But this time, I couldn't run back. It was as if someone was pulling my shirt, preventing me from going back. I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or going into cardiac arrest, but my heart was pounding, and I knew something was wrong. I went to get myself checked out and was told that my heart had beat eight times in two seconds at 2 AM – something called a ventricular tachycardia. The doctor told me I had a mini heart attack in my sleep."
Former Tottenham Hotspur legend Glenn Hoddle, 66, is also part of this campaign. He was saved thanks to the quick thinking of BT sound engineer Simon Daniels. Hoddle suffered a cardiac arrest in a London TV studio and had to undergo emergency heart surgery on his 61st birthday. He shared, "Simon was there as a sound engineer who was trained in CPR, and the reason I'm here today is because he performed CPR and saved my life. This campaign is fantastic because it will save lives. We've all been through similar experiences, and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for CPR."
And finally, we have former Newcastle United and Spurs star David Ginola, 57. In May 2016, he collapsed while playing a charity football match and went into a coma due to a cardiac arrest. He described the experience as surreal and said, "When you collapse on the football pitch and your heart stops beating, you are dead. Someone performed CPR on me for 10 minutes. It was a strange and awkward experience, but I'm lucky to have had someone who knew how to do it."
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