March 17, 2012: One of the scariest moments in the history of sports occurs, leaving fans around the world on edge for hours. It was one of the earliest such moments spread worldwide by social media.
Fabrice Ndala Muamba was born on April 6, 1988 in Kinshasa, Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1994, the family fled the civil war-torn country and moved to England. In 2005, Fabrice signed to play for North London soccer team Arsenal as a midfielder. But, with the team having a surplus of midfielders, he made only 2 first-team appearances, and was sent on loan to Birmingham City in 2006, and they took him on full-time in 2007. In 2008, they sold him to Manchester-area team Bolton Wanderers. In 2009-10, he was named the club's Player of the Year.
On March 17, 2012, Bolton were playing an FA Cup Quarterfinal against Tottenham Hotspur, at White Hart Lane, the North London home of "Spurs." The game was level, 1-1 in the 41st minute, when Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch.
Referee Howard Webb stopped the match, and medical personnel surrounded Muamba, including Dr. Andrew Deaner, a cardiologist attending the game as a fan. At first, the stands were nearly silent, with a low murmur from the fans, as most were not sure about what had happened, as the attendees to Muamba's condition blocked their view of him.
Within 4 minutes, the home fans began chanting his name, a rare tribute from Spurs fans to any opponent: "FAB-rice Mu-AM-ba!" This was a traditional one-minute tribute, and the alternating of near-silence and the chant, minute-by-minute, made for compelling TV viewing.
Finally, with Bolton manager Owen Coyle and Captain Kevin Davies riding with him, Muamba was taken by ambulance to the London Chest Hospital. It was estimated that he received cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for 45 minutes before his heart resumed beating on its own.
Because it seemed like he had died on worldwide television, and then because he'd been saved by the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and the doctors after all, the whole world came together through social media in support of someone most of them had never heard of before -- a black immigrant from Africa to a mostly-white country, no less.
Webb finally ordered the match abandoned. The game was made up on March 27, with Tottenham winning, 3-1. They lost the Semifinal to Chelsea.
Bolton asked the Premier League to postpone their next game, at home to Birmingham team Aston Villa, set for 3 days later. The League contacted Villa management, which graciously raised no objection, and the postponement was made.
By March 19, Muamba's heart was beating without medication. He was released from the hospital on April 16, with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Advised by his doctors to retire from playing, Muamba became a TV analyst for his sport. As of 2022, he is a coach in Bolton's academy. He has only played once since, in 2015, in a testimonial match for a friend, Ian Goodison.
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March 17, 2012 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. American-style football was out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 102-88 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 102-94 at the Prudential Center in Newark.
* The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Toronto Raptors, 107-103 at the Time Warner Cable Arena (now the Spectrum Center) in Charlotte.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 106-99 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 89-80 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Boston Celtics, 98-91 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors, 99-92 in overtime at the EnergySolutions Arena (as the Delta Center was then known) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets, 95-91 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
And there were 11 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New York Islanders bear the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 in a shootout at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Yes, it hosted the Devils and the Nets on the same day. A month later, that would no longer be a problem, as the Nets finished their regular season, missed the Playoffs, and moved to Brooklyn.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in a shootout at the TD Garden in Boston.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-1 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-3 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center). Martin Havlát scored the winning goal with 1:37 left in overtime.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames, the Washington Capitals, the Edmonton Oilers, the Arizona Coyotes, the Anaheim Ducks and the Winnipeg Jets were not scheduled.
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