Football legend David Ginola was brought back from the dead after his heart stopped during a charity match.
The 49-year-old’s life was saved by a bystander who performed CPR and a team of medics who used a defibrillator on the pitch.
It took four blasts from the machine to get the Frenchman’s heart beating again.
Prof Gilles Dreyfus, who later performed a quadruple bypass on the ex-Spurs and Newcastle winger , called his recovery “unbelievable”.
He said were it not for the bystander who gave CPR the star would be dead or permanently brain damaged.
Ginola, now conscious after a six-hour operation, had been a guest at a celebrity golf tournament in Mandelieu on the French Riviera on Thursday before collapsing at the charity match.
Prof Dreyfus said: “When he collapsed people thought it was a joke but after a minutes or two somebody realised it was serious. Fortunately there was one person who had been trained in CPR.
“The emergency services arrived eight minutes later with him in cardiac arrest. He was shocked four times and they were able to restore normal heart rhythm within 10 minutes.”
Ginola was taken by helicopter to Monaco Heart Centre for an immediate quadruple bypass.
Prof Dreyfus described it as “very straightforward although difficult”.
He added: “Today he woke perfectly normally with no neurological damage and is now recovering.
“It was a sequence of events that at every stage went absolutely fine.
“That is why he is here today. Luckier you can’t be. It’s an unbelievable story.”
He added: “He arrived in a catastrophic state. He was unconscious and did not remember anything.
“I have been able to talk to him. He does not show any neurological after effects. He did not have a heart attack but had very complicated coronary lesions.”
A tweet from Ginola’s account read: “Never slept better. I’m fine, just need to rest a bit. Thank you so much all of you for your magnificent support.”
Spurs replied by sending their best wishes to a club “legend”.
The star, who won 17 caps for France, began his English football career in 1995 with Newcastle and joined Spurs in 1997. He retired in 2002 and is now a TV pundit.
COMMENTS