It has been said these days that Bolton are a team desperately fighting to avoid relegation. For one of their players, another more important fight is currently taking place ... one for his life.
For the uninitiated, Fabrice Muamba (above) has been one of Bolton's rare shining stars in a season where majority of their players have either underperformed or looked out of depth.
Last night, in a FA Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur, Fabrice suddenly collapsed on the pitch. Moments later, he had apparently stopped breathing and needed full attention from the medics at White Hart Lane while an entire stadium filled with stunned supporters looked on shell-shocked. Players from both teams were visibly distraught and the referee rightly called off the game at the 41st minute.
Today, reports are saying that Fabrice is facing a critical 24-hour period in a fight to save his life. Details of what exactly happened to him is still unconfirmed at this stage, though given what I could see on the screen, it would have been most likely a heart problem, like a sudden cardiac arrest or something.
Whatever it is, all our thoughts and prayers go out to him. It was certainly heart-warming to see fans of both teams unite in showing genuine concern and grief when Fabrice collapsed. Incidences like this serve to put football, with all the big money and pressures involved, into the right perspective.
Suddenly, a contest between between grown men trying to put a leather ball into a net more times than the other side seem like an embarrassingly trivial pursuit when compared to the plight facing Fabrice now.
However, the (brighter) flip side of this all is witnessing the ability of this wee sport to unite millions around the globe, myself included, who have never personally met Fabrice but yet wishing he would fight the good fight, recover well and get back to doing what he does best - putting smiles on the faces of Bolton fans week in, week out.
Fabrice Muamba, if there was such a thing as the power of thoughts, take heart that this power is currently being emitted by millions around the globe in hopes that you pull through and get well.
God speed.
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