Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Ethan Horvath said Tom Lockyer's collapse at Wembley was "heartbreaking" as he dedicated Luton Town's playoff final win to the Hatters captain.
Horvath is on a season-long loan at Kenilworth Road from the Reds and started the Championship showdown against Coventry which Rob Edwards' side won 6-5 in a shootout.
But there were scary scenes early on when Lockyer collapsed after eight minutes under no challenge prompting medics from both clubs to rush to his aid.
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The game was delayed for five minutes while Lockyer was given oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher to the medical room at Wembley.
He was taken to hospital and was joined by his parents with his father, Steve, posting a picture of his son celebrating the victory from his hospital bed.
Asked about the incident after the game, Horvath said: "To be honest, I didn't know if he had tripped.
"After I went in, the first thing I asked was Tom okay. We rallied. This is for Tom. You never want to see anything like that happen.
"We are a brotherhood, we are all behind each other. In the past couple of games, Tom has been really important for us.
"For something like that to happen is heartbreaking but all credit to Reece Burke and the boys who came in."
Luton had taken the lead after the game resumed through Jordan Clark but Gustavo Hamer struck back after the break.
With the game level after extra time, it went to a penalty shootout with Luton scoring all six of their spot-kicks before Fankaty Dabo blazed over to hand the Hatters promotion to the Premier League.
Asked about the shootout, Horvath said: "I was just telling myself I was going to get one of them. I was keeping calm and we did this practice for penalties for about two weeks. I knew if it went to penalties, I had no doubt in the boys. "
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