Luton Town’s Tom Lockyer remains hopeful that he may be able to resume his playing career down the line after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing in the Premier League in December – but says his decision will be led by medical advice.
The Welsh centre-back collapsed in Luton Town’s clash with Bournemouth just before Christmas last year and had to be revived by medical staff performing CPR after his heart stopped for almost three minutes.
Lockyer has since had a built-in defibrillator implanted in case of any further incidents having also collapsed while playing in the Championship play-off final last month, putting his playing career in doubt.
Tom Lockyer: "All it takes is 15 minutes to learn life-saving CPR"
He told BBC Radio Wales: “I've made no secret saying I would love to return to football, but ultimately it would have to come down to someone who's a cardiologist or a specialist who has done full research into what has gone on and if it could happen again, because we've got a little girl now [born in March] and she takes priority.
“I would love to play football again, of course I would, it’s my life but if it’s the case that I can't, then I’m at peace with that as well.
“I played for my country, I’ve played in every league and scored in every league from non-league to the Premier League…so it’s not the end of the world. At the end of the day, I've got my health and that's the most important thing”.
He added: “When it first happened, the thing that was keeping me going was that I was going to be the one to come back and score the winner to keep Luton in the Premier League.
“That was my goal and pretty quickly that got squished by the physios and the doctor, they said ‘are you silly?’.
“I'm taking my time of things. It could take a lot longer than we thought but we can’t rush these things and if I'm going to come back, it has to be right.
“I was in limbo for a bit as well. I was not playing football and not doing anything else, so I said to my agent: ‘what's the best thing to do here?’.
“I'm getting my coaching badges done. I’ve done a bit of punditry work as well, which I really like, so the options are there for me.
“Obviously I'm not looking to do any of them full-time at the minute. I am going to try and focus on getting back on the pitch, but should that not be the case, then I'm sure something else will have my name on it.”
Lockyer has also urged people to learn CPR as part of a British Heart Foundation campaign, saying: “It literally is a life saver and I'm living proof of that. I know how important CPR is.
“It’s why I'm trying to preach as much as possible and that's why I'll keep banging the drum for CPR. I think more people need to learn it.
“People keep putting it off for some reason, I have no idea why. All it takes is 15 minutes to learn it. You can log online on your phone to the British Heart Foundation website which will show you and give you the tools you need to save someone's life.
“Ultimately, we hope you never have to use it – but should you have to use it, then at least you know what you're doing.”
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