Wolves hold CPR training session at players’ request

David Ginola suggested on Sunday that everybody should have basic skills

Pa Sport Staff
Wednesday 20 October 2021 18:29 BST
David Ginola suffered a cardiac arrest during a charity match in France in 2016 (David Davies/PA)
David Ginola suffered a cardiac arrest during a charity match in France in 2016 (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Wolves players have acted on the plea of David Ginola by undergoing basic CPR training.

Ginola had urged everybody to get training on Sunday after a fan collapsed in Newcastle’s Premier League match against Tottenham.

The game as St James’ Park was suspended for 20 minutes towards the end of the first half as the spectator received medical attention. It was later confirmed by Newcastle that the person was stabilised and sent to hospital.

Ginola, who played 58 times for the Magpies, suffered a cardiac arrest during a charity match in France in 2016. The 54-year-old collapsed and fell into a coma. He was administered CPR on the pitch by fellow footballer Frederic Mendy which Ginola insists “saved my life”.

On Wednesday, Wolves players learnt the basic skills at their Compton training ground.

A tweet which showed the players administering chest compressions on a dummy read: “At the request of our players, we held a basic life support training session at Compton this afternoon.

“You never know when these skills might be needed. Be prepared.”

Ginola was a pundit for Sunday’s clash and during the stoppage in play he said on Sky Sports: “Having people being able to perform CPR helps massively. At the end of the day we should all be able to perform CPR to help each other.

“This is what saved my life. The surgeon who operated said to me: ‘I did my job but I didn’t save your life, the one who saved your life is the one next to you on the football pitch’.

“Frederic Mendy and those guys had been told how to perform CPR and they did it for 12 minutes. I was dead for 12 minutes.

“It is very important because otherwise the brain is damaged, even if your heart is saved.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in