Chelsea’s goalkeeper Petr Cech when talking about Fabrice going into cardiac arrest recounted his experience at Reading.
Cech clashed with Readings Stephen Hunt taking a knee to the head. Cech dazed by the impact managed to crawl off the pitch for treatment before being stretchered off and falling into unconsciousness on his way to hospital, where he was found to have two pieces of bone in his brain.
After operating two metal plates were inserted, and remain today which is the reason why Cech wears a protective helmet when he plays.
The incident with Cech could very well be what has helped Mumba get immediate treatment on the pitch. Speaking about it Cech said: “You remember what happened at Reading with me, when you saw me crawling off the pitch. It took so much time first before I was carried onto a stretcher, and then people couldn’t get me out of the dressing room.
“Imagine if that had happened with Fabrice – by the time somebody managed to get him out he might have no chance. I was at least glad to see that since then the medical care and structure changed for the better.
“Fabrice still has a chance to survive because of the equipment around the pitch now. It can take only a few seconds to change a whole life and career. It’s great that after what happened at Reading people get the proper medical facilities.”
Petr later added: “You feel for the family and people close to him, and also for the people on the pitch. It’s really hard to see something like that.
“At the time I got injured nobody knew how serious it was at first. But you could see straight away how serious that was.
“They made the right decision to stop the game. I don’t think the players had the concentration to continue.”
