Perth: Dutch cricket coach Ryan Campbell, who was discharged from hospital after recovering from a cardiac arrest, has said that he has no recollection of the time he spent in hospital while in induced coma, and profusely thanked the woman who administered CPR which saved his life.
The former Australia and Hong Kong cricketer was rushed to hospital in the middle of last month while in the UK, and was forced into an induced coma. After ascertaining that he had suffered no damage to the brain or to the heart, the 50-year-old Campbell was discharged with doctors excluding the possibility of a heart attack as cause.
In an interview with Australian radio station Triple M in Perth, Campbell said he had very little recollection of the seven-day stay in hospital.
“I have no recollection (of the induced coma),” said Campbell. “When I woke up I was a bit confused, I thought I was in Hong Kong (where Campbell played and coached), and I was asking my wife why I was in Hong Kong without my kids. Seven days of my life I will never remember.
“My daughter wanted to go on the slide and I was sort of up there, and then for some reason I was tired and decided to lie down.”
A lady named Beci Bassett, who had recently completed her CPR training, was close at hand when Campbell suffered the cardiac arrest.
“The lucky thing was I actually lied down on the foot of a young girl whose mother (Bassett) was the one that saved my life with CPR. She had just literally finished her course. Just a surreal experience. I actually had lunch with her yesterday (Monday). What do you say to someone who saved your life? It was a pretty cool experience to be honest,” said Campbell.
Campbell, who has played two ODIs and three T20Is and has been a prolific scorer in first-class and List A matches, said that a recent chest infection or a battle with Covid-19 could have triggered the cardiac arrest.
“I had a chest infection when we went to South Africa (for Cricket World Cup Super League) in November. I was a bit sick but I was fine, and then I had Covid in February, I think like everyone on the planet has had it,” said Campbell.
“I think my odds were like seven per cent or something, which means I get a second crack at it and I’m gonna make sure I live it to the most. They’re saying my heart is in perfect condition now, so it’s one of those weird things that no one can put a finger on it.”
Campbell said he hoped to join the Dutch squad ahead of the Cricket World Cup Super League campaign.
“I’m actually not allowed to fly for a couple of months, so we’re actually getting the ferry back (to the Netherlands. I’m going old school, I’m going back to Don Bradman’s time. I’m looking forward to going home and getting back into a routine and seeing my cricket team again and seeing how they’re going, but we won’t be rushing back into it,” he added.
–IANS