Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has claimed it is “too early” to tell about captain Tom Lockyer’s future in football.
Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in Luton’s recent Premier League match against Bournemouth. He collapsed in the 59th minute of the match.
The match had to be suspended and it will now be played at a later date in the season.
The 29-year old player had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted following a cardiac arrest.
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.”
This is not the first time Lockyer has collapsed while playing football. It happened before in May this year in the first half of Luton’s Championship play-off final match against Coventry.