Lockyer ready to play after ‘long road’ of cardiac arrest

After a lengthy recovery following a cardiac arrest, Tom Lockyer declares that he is ready to resume playing football.

Since suffering a cardiac arrest during Luton Town’s Premier League game against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on December 16, 2023, the 30-year-old Wales defender has not played a competitive game for the club or nation.

Prior to the Hatters’ Championship play-off final win against Coventry City at Wembley, Lockyer had previously collapsed on the field.

The Cardiff-born defender’s recovery took even longer as he had ankle surgery twice in the previous year.

The 30-year-old told the Football Feast podcast that “it’s been a long, old road, it really has.”

“But I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been cleared to play football once more, which is amazing, just everything I’ve done since the cardiac arrest took place.

After Luton, who were promoted for the second consecutive season in May, told the player that his contract would not be renewed when it expired last summer, Lockyer is currently without a club.

Despite that, Luton made sure the former centre-back, who played for Bristol Rovers and Charlton Athletic, could use their facilities and collaborate with their physios and medical staff while he was recovering.

Lockyer has made 16 appearances for Wales, with his last one coming in a Euro 2024 qualifying match against Turkey in November 2023.

According to Lockyer, Craig Bellamy has been appointed as the nation’s head coach and has impressed under the leadership of former Wales boss Rob Page.

According to Lockyer, “He’s]Bellamy] is still relatively young in his journey, from where he probably wants to go and where he wants to be.”

Because he doesn’t believe Wales is the finished article, and he claims there is still much to learn and improve, that’s probably quite exciting for Wales fans.

“I think he is a breath of fresh air,” he said as he discussed these coming up with the idea of playing challenging games.

He cherishes the Canada game, which was a 1-0 friendly defeat in September, and he wants that game.

He acknowledges that losing a game may not appear as good on paper, but it is really refreshing to learn and make progress from it.

On Thursday, October 9, Wales travel to Wembley to play another difficult friendly before hosting Belgium in a World Cup qualifying game on Monday.

Despite some people asking why Wales chose to play England just before a crucial World Cup qualifier, Lockyer thinks Bellamy’s willingness to put his side to the test will pay off.

Lockyer continued, “Bellamy has been very vocal about the information he wants for players to run.”

“I believe he also said that we would love to play Canada because they are very athletic, and we will then receive the data.”

You have to work hard, he says, and I absolutely love that. “I don’t really know what he does with the data, but he has these demands he puts on players,” he says.