Fabrice Muamba relives terrifying moment he collapsed

Millions of fans feared for the worst when footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed unconscious on the pitch in a match last month.

Now, having made a full recovery, Muamba has spoken for the first time about the terrifying ordeal in which he says he ‘died’ for 78 minutes.

The Bolton midfielder, 24, insisted he had not felt unwell before his heart stopped and he crashed to the ground in the 41st minute of a televised FA Cup tie at Tottenham on March 17.

Muamba was effectively dead for over an hour and it took 15 defibrillator shocks – two on the pitch and 13 in the ambulance – to get his heart beating again.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘I ran upfield to try and get on the end of a cross from Martin Petrov on our left wing and as I ran back into midfield I felt very slightly dizzy.

‘It wasn’t a normal dizziness – it was a kind of surreal feeling like I was running along inside someone else’s body.

‘Then I made another burst forward and noticed it again. Then my vision started to go. I had no pain whatsoever. No clutching at my chest.Then I started to see double. It felt almost like a dream. There was no one anywhere near me when I started to feel myself falling

‘The last thing I remember was our defender Dedryck Boyata screaming at me to get back and help out in defence. I just felt myself falling then I felt two thumps as my head hit the ground in front of me then that was it. Blackness, nothing. I was dead.’

Muamba told the newspaper he believed his survival was thanks to his prayers to God, saying: ‘What happened to me was really more than a miracle.’

He revealed how he had asked God for protection before the match, while on the phone to his father – something he said he did before every game.

And in the latest twist in his remarkable recovery, Muamba hopes to make an emotional return to Bolton’s Reebok Stadium on May 2, when his team-mates will be facing Tottenham.

The player’s dramatic collapse in front of television cameras covering Bolton’s FA Cup quarter-final at White Hart Lane live touched the emotions of people with no interest in the game of football.

They followed  every turn in his fight for life and rejoiced when a picture of a smiling Muamba was posted on the player’s Twitter account.

Muamba has revealed he asked God to protect him before the cup clash, which was abandoned after his collapse.

He told The Sun: ‘Someone up there was watching over me. What happened to me was really more than a miracle. On the morning of the game I prayed with my father and asked God to protect me – and he didn’t let me down.

‘I am walking proof of the power of prayer. For 78 minutes I was dead and even if I lived was expected to have suffered brain damage. But I’m very much alive and sitting here talking now. Some one up there was watching over me.’

Doctors have since fitted a mini-defibrillator in his chest in case he suffers a similar attack. It has left a three-inch scar on his chest.

Muamba added: ‘It was weird. I was conscious when they fitted my chest with the defibrillator wired to my chest. And I was so relaxed I fell asleep.

‘I can feel a metal plate under my skin in my chest above my heart so it feels like I’ve got two hearts instead of one.’

He is now being closely monitored and the club have made it clear that any decision to attend a home game will entirely depend on Muamba and the state of his health.

But sources said: ‘It is possible he will be able to come to a match this season, sooner rather than later.’

Skipper Kevin Davies added: ‘The lads are buzzing about the great news of Fab being discharged from hospital. We know he has a long way to go in his recovery but we are all looking forward to seeing him again, sooner rather than later.’

Bolton manager Owen Coyle said he has spoken to Muamba in the last 48 hours.

‘It was great to hear him in such an upbeat mood,’ he said. ‘You could tell by his voice he seems in a very good place.’