Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer's Wembley pitch collapse cause revealed

  /  autty

Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has revealed he has been given the all-clear to return to action - ten days on from his Wembley collapse during the Championship play-off final.

The 28-year-old fell to the floor while backpedalling early into their game against Coventry City.

He was taken to hospital, where he watched his team mates seal promotion to the Premier League with a penalty shootout victory.

Lockyer, in an interview with Sky Sports, has revealed the sudden collapse was caused by an irregular heartbeat, and that he has been given clearance to return to action following a 'little procedure'.

He said: 'I'm doing well. It's been a mad week or so. I had the all-clear yesterday [Monday] and I'm all good moving forward.

'I was quite lucky. They knew straight away what it was and it wasn't life-threatening. It was an atrial flutter, which is an irregular heartbeat, so my heart wasn't responding as it should in those situations.

'It's probably the least severe heart condition you could have and I had a little procedure on Wednesday (May 31) to correct that and it should never happen again.'

Lockyer went on to admit that he 'didn't feel anything' when it happened and was left wondering how he ended up on the floor.

He added: 'It's quite funny, really - I didn't feel anything at all. I had a great chance with the header and got a little bit excited from that, thinking I'd scored at Wembley.

'Then I was just running backwards, went really light-headed and my legs went really weak straightaway. I remember stumbling backwards.

'I was told I was coming off as I'd collapsed and I was like 'no, no I'm fine!' I wondered why I was on the floor, so that's when I realised and the emotions all went. When I went off on the stretcher, (manager) Rob [Edwards] came to me and said 'don't worry, we'll win it for you' and I was bawling my eyes out so couldn't respond.'

Lockyer after falling to the ground, appeared to pass out as he tried to get back to his feet.

He received medical attention for several minutes, before he was taken off a stretcher and went to hospital.

Later that day he was pictured celebrating as he watched his team mates confirm their promotion with a 6-5 penalty shootout win.

He was then pictured giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed on the Monday after the game, as he watched his team mates celebrate their promotion with an open top bus parade through the streets of Luton.

Luton's promotion is a remarkable turnaround given just nine years ago the Hatters ended a five-season stretch in the fifth tier of English football.

Lockyer will be looking to play a part as Luton play in the top-tier for the first time since 1992.

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