Fabrice Muamba: A true fighter on and off the field

Fabrice Muamba, after retirement, with his son, Joshua.

News emerged recently of Fabrice Muamba embarking on a career in sports journalism. He is making a foray into the media at the young age of 26, after his career was unfortunately cut short a couple of years back due to a cardiac arrest on the football pitch in a FA Cup game between Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. Thankfully, he is healthy once again, and he is looking to forge a new life professionally. If anyone could’ve come out unscathed after suffering a setback which compelled him to retire from football for good, it was him.

Fabrice Muamba was born in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). His early life was riddled with tribulations, as a result of the civil war that had afflicted Congo and many other parts of Africa in the 1990s. To give you an idea of how bad the situation was, Muamba couldn’t even have a kickabout with his mates. “It stopped us going out to play football, because we were scared we would get killed. One or two of my friends were hurt,” he said.

The Civil war in Congo in the 1990s devastated the country, with an estimated 5.4 million people losing their lives and is sometimes referred to as the “African world war” because it involved nine African nations and twenty armed groups. It was a stroke of luck that the Muamba family wasn’t among those to have lost their lives in the war. The Muamba senior, Marcel, worked as an adviser to the country’s then prime minister and had to flee the country for his life after rebellious forces started closing in on the capital city.

Father Marcel, before flying to London with the intention of seeking political asylum in Britain, took refuge in his brother’s home, Ilunga, who was later killed for protecting him. It was only in December 1999 that Fabrice, aged 11, got to meet his father once again, after Fabrice, along with the rest of the family, moved to London to rejoin his father.

Life in London for Fabrice was a far cry from the shots of gunfires and genocides he encountered in his home country of Congo. He adapted very quickly to the new surroundings in England and was soon seen excelling in his new school in Walthamstow, east London. He was academically adept: despite not knowing English when arriving in the country, he went on to achieve 10 GCSEs and A-levels in English as well as French and Mathematics.

While it is clear that he was a bright student and could have gone down an academic path if he wished to do so, Fabrice’s true calling was football. He showed an inclination towards football from the outset and was being watched by a host of Premier League scouts, before being picked up by Arsenal’s scouts in 2002 to train with their youth team.

He signed for the club’s academy in 2004, but Arsenal’s fantastic first team at the time meant that Muamba found his opportunities limited. As a result, Muamba decided to move on loan to Birmingham City. Despite still only being a teenager, he was an imposing presence in Birmingham’s midfield and was starting to dictate games from midfield. His impressive performances for Birmingham City meant that they couldn’t resist from signing him on a permanent basis. It was at about this time that Muamba made his England Under-21 debut, which he went on to represent 33 times. But another setback followed when Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League. This meant that Muamba, for a player of his quality, was in search of a club plying their trade in the Premier League.

Players react as Bolton Wanderers’ Fabrice Muamba is resuscitated just before he was taken off the field during their FA Cup quarter-final match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in London

Bolton Wanderers, in the Premier League back then, quickly showed an interest in the young midfielder, and Muamba ended up signing for Bolton for £5m. This was where Muamba played his best football, leading to comparisons with Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. The comparisons were understandable, although some would say premature and irrational. Like Vieira, Muamba was a tough-tackling midfielder with boundless energy to run up and down the pitch. Muamba would have without doubt loved to emulate Vieira’s career but unfortunately, it was not to be.

After going through all the turmoil that he had in his early life, he would’ve been forgiven to think that all his troubles were behind him. But the worst was yet to come. It was 17th March, 2012, and the venue was White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur’s home ground. It was the FA Cup quarter-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers.

During the first-half of the match, Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch. After receiving lengthy attention on the pitch from medical personnel, Muamba was taken to the specialist care centre at the London Chest Hospital. Bolton’s club doctor later confirmed that Muamba had received numerous defibrillator shocks both on the pitch and in the ambulance, as his heart had stopped for 78 minutes. The player was kept under anaesthetic in intensive care initially.

Within a couple of days, his heart was beating without medication and his condition slowly started improving. He was able to recognize his family members and started responding appropriately to questions asked. By 21 March, Muamba’s consultant stated that Muamba’s progress had “exceeded our expectations” and that although he faced a “lengthy recovery period”, “normal life was within the spectrum of possibility.”

While that raised hope that Muamba would be able to resume his playing career very soon, the hopes were unfortunately unfulfilled. On 15^th August 2012, Muamba announced his retirement from professional football based on the advice of his medical team. Following his announcement, he said: “Since suffering my heart attack and being discharged from hospital, I have remained utterly positive in the belief I could one day resume my playing career and play for Bolton Wanderers once again. As part of my on-going recovery, last week I travelled to Belgium to seek further medical advice from a leading cardiologist. But the news I received was obviously not what I had hoped it would be and it means I am now announcing my retirement from professional football. Football has been my life since I was a teenage boy and it has given me so many opportunities. Above all else, I love the game and count myself very lucky to have been able to play at the highest level. While the news is devastating, I have much to be thankful for. I thank God that I am alive and I pay tribute once again to the members of the medical team who never gave up on me. I would also like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career, and the Bolton fans who have been incredible. I am blessed to have the support of my family and friends at this time.”

Such incidents provide a perspective on sport and help us in seeing the larger picture. Muamba could well have lost his life while playing a game of football that he so loves, and that thought alone sends shivers down my spine. Muamba has had a tumultuous life which makes us forget that he is still only 26. One can only hope that the next phase of his life is a lot more peaceful and hassle free.