I TOLD THE REF TO STOP THE GAME — BUT MEDICS WERE REAL HEROES
SERgIO REguILON is anxious to find out if there have been any medical bulletins filtering south from Tyneside. ‘How is he?’ he wants to know. ‘Still in hospital? I hope he is feeling okay and back at home soon.
‘We want to invite him to a game. Maybe the game against Newcastle at home in April. If he is okay and if he wants to come, that would be perfect.’
It would be a joyous sequel to the distressing scenes of the medical emergency which unfolded late in the first half of Tottenham’s win at St James’ Park last Sunday, when Alan george Smith, an 80-year-old Newcastle supporter, collapsed with a cardiac arrest.
‘I don’t know why I looked up into the stands at that moment,’ recalls Reguilon. ‘Maybe I heard the people shouting: “Stop, stop” but I looked up there, and I saw one man lying down and another man pumping his chest with the heart massage.
‘I looked at the man’s face and I could see it was not good. I thought: “This guy is dying” and I was shaken and nervous. I went quickly to the referee to say: “Please stop the game, the man is dying and we need medical help, hurry up”.
‘I am only here for one year from Spain and there are many technical words I don’t know, like defibrillator, so I spoke with Eric Dier to tell him the doctors need to bring on a defibrillator.’
Quick-thinking by everyone concerned saved the man’s life. Fans nearby raised the alarm and off-duty medics in the crowd rushed to help, including a junior doctor called Tom Prichard, who took over life-saving CPR until St John Ambulance workers and Newcastle’s club doctor were on the scene.
‘These guys are the heroes,’ says Reguilon. ‘It was thanks to the amazing reaction of the fans and people in the crowd and the doctors who were there to see the game and rushed to help in that moment, they saved the man’s life. We have to start teaching these skills in schools so everybody has them.
‘I don’t know how to do CPR but I think I did the right thing. Eric Dier was incredible and it was the right action to stop the game by the referee.
‘I didn’t know him, it was different to the situation with Christian Eriksen because we knew him personally, but I was sad for him.
‘They came to tell us he was doing okay and my mind relaxed a bit. My team-mates were saying: “Come on Regy, focus on the game, the man is stable, he’s going to be okay”. But I still had the image in my mind. I could not forget. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.’
Mr Smith’s son, Paul, said on Wednesday his father was recovering, that he was ‘fully alert’ and ‘walking about’, and looking forward to watching his beloved Newcastle again in the near future.
‘Everyone is okay, that’s the positive thing,’ says Reguilon, who recovered his composure to produce one of his best displays of the season as Spurs closed out a 3-2 win and moved up to fifth in the Premier League.
Despite losing at Vitesse Arnhem with effectively what was their second string, Spurs have stabilised with back-to-back wins in the top flight after three defeats and are settling into a better rhythm under Nuno Espirito Santo as they make the short trip to West Ham tomorrow.
‘The gaffer wants his team to be strong and compact with quick transitions,’ says Reguilon. ‘Our fans want to watch beautiful football and not only counter-attacking but football can be many things and we are in a moment where we’re building something, and we are doing okay.’
Reguilon feels he is maturing as a player and enjoying his second Premier League season after overcoming some of the unforeseen challenges of his move to London.
‘My first season here was tough,’ he says. ‘It was difficult to adapt to the Premier League, to another culture, to everything. Covid made travel difficult, my family, my girlfriend and my friends couldn’t come to London. I need this in my life and there were moments when this was sad. At Christmas, for example.
‘This year, things are open. I can go out again to restaurants, try the different food, visit London, smell the city and see Tower Bridge and the London Eye. To feel the stadium again, full with fans is wonderful.
‘My English is completely different. There are lots of Spanish speakers at the club, Eric Dier speaks really good Spanish. But I have to speak with the other English lads because I want to improve.’
Kick-off: Tomorrow, 2pm, at London Stadium. TV: LIVE on Sky Sports. Referee: Paul Tierney.