Rob Edwards has said that it is “too early to tell” about Tom Lockyer’s future after the Luton Town captain had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted following a cardiac arrest.
Lockyer, 29, was released from hospital on Wednesday after he suffered a cardiac arrest in Luton’s Premier League match at Bournemouth last Saturday.
In the 59th minute of the game, Lockyer collapsed. There was two minutes between him going down and being resuscitated. Following on-field treatment and assistance inside the Vitality Stadium, he was subsequently transported to the hospital.
Luton later stated that Lockyer had suffered a cardiac arrest. A club statement confirmed on Thursday that he had returned home to begin a period of rehabilitation.
Lockyer had also collapsed during the first half of Luton’s Championship play-off final victory against Coventry in May. He subsequently revealed that he had suffered an atrial fibrillation, a separate issue to last Saturday’s incident. This is characterised by an “irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate”, as described by the National Health Service (NHS).
Edwards said: “I won’t be able to articulate all my feelings. I sensed something was different this time to May — it was then about raising the alarm and trying to clear the area and let the medics do their job, and while I’m on that topic, wow, didn’t they do their jobs. They saved him, and made every decision bang on, with everyone watching. They’re heroes.
“It’s not the second time it’s happened to him, in May it was an atrial fibrillation, this was a cardiac arrest, and it’s too early to tell why and going forward.
“It’s about him recovering. He’s had the operation now with the ICD fitted, it’s about recovery and we’ll see going forward what that means.
“His dad described it to be yesterday as if he’s ‘had a fight with a bear’. He’s tired, he’s clearly been through a lot, bless him, but he’s being well looked after at home.”
The match against Bournemouth was abandoned – with the scoreline at 1-1 – as a result of the incident involving Lockyer. The Premier League has since confirmed that the game will be replayed in full at a later date.
Edwards, meanwhile, thanked Bournemouth for their efforts in helping save Lockyer’s life, saying he thinks Luton will “have a special bond with that football club going forward”.
“I need to say thank you to everyone at Bournemouth, Andoni (Iraola), his staff, the players themselves, and a special message to Phillip Billing, David Brooks and his partner who know Tom well, saw his family at the hospital and really comforted them.”
GO DEEPER
Tom Lockyer and Luton had been here before – it made the sense of dread all the greater
(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
