Former Australian cricketer Ryan Campbell has left hospital and could soon make a stunning return to the sport following his cardiac arrest last month.
Campbell, 50, spent three weeks at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in northern England, where he was placed in an induced coma.
Doctors say he is expected to make a full recovery after follow-up tests remarkably found no damage to the heart.
But they say the cause of his cardiac arrest remains unknown, having “categorically excluded the possibility of a heart attack”.
Doctors have not ruled out a delayed response to recent illnesses suffered by Campbell, including a lower respiratory tract infection in November 2021 or COVID in February 2022.
Campbell collapsed at a children’s playground while on a family holiday in the UK.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the amazing doctors and nurses at the Royal Stoke Hospital critical care unit for their incredible professionalism, kindness and compassion,” he said in a statement.
“I also want to thank Beci Bassett, a parent at the adventure playground in Cheshire who immediately administered CPR.
“Her courage and quick intervention quite simply saved my life.”
Campbell paid tribute to his wife Leontina and a close friend who rushed from the US.
“My wife Leontina was at my bedside hour after hour and kept our families informed of my progress,” he said.
“She dealt bravely with every development thrown her way. LT, I thank you and love you.
“LT was joined early on by my great mate Simon Millington, who flew out from Nevada to be there for her and her family and assisted them throughout the ordeal. For this I will be eternally grateful.
“Finally, I want to say a big thank you to all my well-wishers from around the world. The amount of messages of love and support my family and I received was extremely humbling.”
The former Western Australian cricketer, who played two ODIs for Australia in 2002, has coached the Netherlands national team since 2017.
He is expected to return to his role and could even lead the team in next month’s ODI series against England.
Campbell said he was only given a seven per cent chance of survival after suffering a cardiac arrest in April.
“It’s seven days of my life that I’ll never remember. Thankfully I came back,” Campbell said of his near-death experience.
“My wife said my odds were like seven per cent or something, which means I get a second crack at it and I’m going to make sure I live it to the most and have a lot of fun.
“I’m going to love my loved ones and give them tighter hugs every time I see them.”
Ryan Campbell has been discharged from a London hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. Credit: AAP
Campbell says he feels a bit nervous not knowing exactly what caused the cardiac arrest.
He had a chest infection while in South Africa last November and also caught COVID-19 in February, but specialists aren’t sure whether those events played a part in the cardiac arrest.
“They’ve definitely ruled out heart attacks, and they’re saying my heart is in perfect condition,” Campbell told Rush Hour WA.
“It’s one of those weird things that no one can put a finger on it.
“My surgeon said it’s great news that you’re as fit as a bull, but the bad news is I can’t tell you what happened, which makes you a bit nervous.”
The news of Campbell’s cardiac arrest came as a huge shock given how fit and healthy he is.
It also came shortly after Australian cricket legends Shane Warne and Rod Marsh died from suspected heart attacks.
“We were at a playground with my two kids, and my daughter wanted to go on the slide, and I was up there and for some reason I was tired and decided to lie down,” Campbell said of his cardiac arrest.
“The lucky thing was I lied down on the foot of a young girl whose mother was the one who saved my life with CPR. She had just literally finished her course - just a surreal experience.
“I actually had lunch with her yesterday. What do you say to someone who just saved your life? It was a pretty cool experience.”
Campbell isn’t allowed to fly for several months, meaning he will catch the ferry back to the Netherlands to resume his coaching duties.
A swashbuckling batter and a solid gloveman, Campbell was a victim of Australia’s golden era during the late 1990s and early 2000s and is considered extremely unlucky not to have made more appearances at international level.
During an illustrious 98-game first-class career between 1994 and 2006, Campbell starred for WA with 6009 runs at an average of 36.31.
Campbell played for Hong Kong during the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup at the age of 44.
https://7news.com.au/sport/cricket/ex-cricketer-ryan-campbell-out-of-hospital-c-6736441
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