Column: Muamba’s collapse reminds fans of life beyond sports

Some spectators stood with their hands over their mouths as if they couldn’t believe what they… Some spectators stood with their hands over their mouths as if they couldn’t believe what they were watching.

Some were brought to tears.

After the initial shock passed, some even began to chant “Fabrice Muamba,” the name of the 23-year-old Bolton Wanderers soccer player whose heart had just stopped beating in front of more than 30,000 people.

Doctors performed CPR on Muamba for more than five minutes. While seconds earlier the midfielder had been playing against Tottenham Hotspur, he was now fighting for his life after an unexpected cardiac arrest.

Scenarios like last Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup quarterfinal match between Tottenham Hotspur and the Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane stadium in London certainly add perspective to our society’s fascination with sports.

Phrases describing athletics as “life-and-death” and “do-or-die” seem inappropriate when considering the reaction of the White Hart Lane crowd as they watched a man hover on the brink of death. Cheers from supporters turned quickly into silence, the match losing importance in the face of what could have been a real-life tragedy. As doctors carried Muamba off the field on a stretcher, all of White Hart Lane stood to applaud the Democratic Republic of Congo native, hoping they had not just witnessed a young man lose his life.

Then, the crowd applauded a decision that is not often met with cheers.

Referee Howard Webb, with the support of the few players who had not already left the field in tears, made the unprecedented yet unquestionably necessary call to abandon the match with its 1-1 score.

As sports fans all over the world anxiously awaited news on Muamba’s health, speculation grew about what had caused such an athletic and young person to suffer cardiac arrest.

Regardless of the cause, Muamba’s case is, unfortunately, not an isolated incident.

Last March, a similar situation shook the sports world when Wes Leonard — a 16-year-old basketball player from Fennville High School in Michigan — suddenly went into cardiac arrest and died moments after hitting the game-winning shot in the state high school playoffs.

Some Pitt fans will also remember the tragic death of Maggie Dixon, sister of Pitt basketball head coach Jamie Dixon. In 2006, the first-year Army women’s basketball head coach, along with her brother Jamie, had just become the first brother-sister coaching duo to lead their teams to the NCAA Tournament. During the same year, she collapsed and died at age 28. The autopsy showed that Maggie Dixon had an enlarged heart and a problem with a heart valve.

In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, more than 5,000 young athletes die of sudden cardiac arrest each year.

Sports will always be fun to play and entertaining to watch, but remember that in the grand scheme of things, the outcomes of games matter very little.

It always has been, and always will be, just a game.

Almost a week has passed since Muamba’s collapse, and it appears that he will survive. He is able to breathe and communicate with family members without the help of medicine, which is amazing given the fact that his heart didn’t beat on its own for two hours after going into cardiac arrest.

Whether Muamba ever plays soccer again is pointless to even wonder. He appears to have already won the greatest battle he will ever face in his lifetime.