Saint John’s CRY for help

The very public cardiac arrest suffered by Fabrice Muamba a fortnight ago sent shockwaves around the football, world but for one amateur footballer in Dublin, the collapse of the Bolton Wanderers player on the pitch at White Hart Lane was especially distressing.

Last September, 27-year-old John Doyle from Inchicore was looking forward to lining out as usual for his St Patrick’s Athletic side in a Leinster Senior League away game to Kilnamanagh at Tymon North Park in Tallaght.

“It was a normal Sunday morning,” he remembers. “You get up, have a cup of tea and a bit of food, then off to the game. The warm-up was normal, the start of the game was normal, then, 15 minutes in, everything changed.”