Legendary footballer that came back from the dead
French superstar footballer David Ginola, who played 58 times for the Magpies while he was with Newcastle United, was at St James’s Park earlier this year when a match was suspended for 20 minutes when a spectator collapsed and had to have medical attention.
The fan was stabilised and sent to hospital.
Ginola himself had suffered a cardiac arrest during a charity match in France five years ago. “I haven’t been in this country for years,” he said following the St James’s park incident, “and you have a heart attack here in the stadium! It’s a bit weird.”
His own collapse five years earlier caused him to fall into a coma. Another player, Frederic Mendy, administered CPR on the pitch. “I was dead for 12 minutes,” Ginola said.
In the hospital he was taken to and operated on, the surgeon who did the operation told him, “I didn’t save your life. The one who saved your life was your fellow footballer on the football pitch.”
Ginola said later, “A defibrillator helps massively, and 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.”
The former French international was world class. He starred for Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Britain where he became a legend at both Newcastle United and Spurs. The Spanish press had nicknamed him “El Magnifico” after masterful performances he had given for PSG against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
I met him during George Graham’s term as manager of Spurs. Ginola was a great favourite with the fans. He and I had time for only a brief chat as he was on his way to an appointment. Speaking excellent English, he talked easily about how Spurs were doing at that particular time.
Relatively few top footballers became professional actors when their playing days ended. I can think of only Pele, Vinnie Jones, and Cantona. Add to that list David Ginola, who went so far as to enrol at RADA to be trained.
