I died for 8 minutes – but something special happened that day & gave me will to live, says footballer David Ginola
FOOTBALL star David Ginola thought he was in remarkably good shape when he agreed to play a charity match in Mandelieu on the south coast of France – even scoring a goal.
But the celebrations suddenly turned to horror when David collapsed and “died” for eight minutes after his heart stopped.
His friend, fellow footballer Frederic Mendy, valiantly performed CPR, keeping the blood pumping to David’s brain until medics arrived with a defibrillator that sent a series of electric shocks through his body, helping his heart restart.
David, 56, says: “When you are unconscious, you are at a crossroads, and there are two paths: Life or death.
“Why I chose life, I don’t know, because I was unconscious. But I am a fighter.”
David is speaking exclusively to back The Sun’s Save A Life In 15 Minutes campaign, in which we are calling on people to learn CPR.
February is the British Heart Foundation’s heart month and as the charity’s latest ambassador, David is promoting its free online tool, RevivR, which can teach CPR and defibrillation skills in just 15 minutes
Only half of us say we would be able to perform CPR if a loved one had a sudden cardiac arrest, despite latest data showing that around 80 per cent of such attacks out-of-hospital happen in the home.
‘Life brings you gifts’
There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year and sadly fewer than one in ten people survive, often because those around them do not have the skills or confidence to perform CPR.
David says: “At the match in 2016, a firefighter shocked me three times with the defibrillator then told my friend I was dead.
“She said if the heart doesn’t start again after three times, it is over — she was wrong.
“But my friends could see I was fighting and told her to keep going.
“She shocked me two more times and then my heart started again.
“I met that firefighter a year later in Nice and she cried when she saw me.
“She said it was like seeing a ghost.
“I have to thank her and my friend.
“The doctors said that if Frederic had not acted so quickly and performed CPR for over eight minutes, I would have been dead or left in a vegetative state as my brain was starved of oxygen.”
One reason the former Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United player believes he came round was meeting his future girlfriend earlier that day.
In a moment of fate, Maeva Denat, 38, was introduced to David through mutual friends in a Cannes restaurant.
Less than an hour later, he left to play the fateful charity match.
Model Maeva — who already has a daughter from a previous relationship — is now the mother of his five-year-old daughter, Ever, and the family live happily in the south of France having moved there from London during the pandemic.
Fighting back tears, David says: “Life sometimes brings you gifts when you least expect it.
“When I look at Ever, I realise that she wouldn’t be there if I didn’t choose to live.
“That makes me full of joy and passion and affection because she is an amazing little girl who brings me joy. Sometimes she brings me to tears.”
Outwardly, the football legend seemed like the last person you would expect to suffer heart problems.
But his mother Mireille died from a heart attack in 2005 aged 74, and dad Rene, now 87, had operations to clear blocked arteries in 2003.
And when it was later found that David’s arteries had been severely clogged, it was perhaps no surprise that he suffered a cardiac arrest in May 2016.
It came just two months after he separated from his wife of 25 years Coraline, 54, the mother of his children, son Andrea, 31, and 28-year-old daughter Carla.
After his heart was restarted, David was taken by air ambulance to a specialist cardiac hospital, Centre Cardio-Thoracique in Monaco where his blocked arteries were discovered.
Surgeons performed a six-hour quadruple bypass.
Thankfully, he was able to return to working as a TV host soon afterwards and by 2021 he was well enough to compete in a freezing Welsh castle on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!
David says: “When your heart stops beating, they need to treat you as soon as possible. So performing CPR becomes vital. The doctor was relieved because I had been dead for so long, and it was a miracle I had not suffered brain damage.
We need to educate people so at least one person in every family knows first aid. You will probably never have to use it but the knowledge will let you react if something happens.
David Ginola
“I thanked him for saving my life, but he told me, ‘My job was to perform the bypass. The one that saved your life was the person that performed CPR. Without him you would be dead.’”
David later watched aghast as Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen, now 31, collapsed with a cardiac arrest while playing for his native Denmark at the Euros in 2021.
He was also commentating at St James Park when a Newcastle fan suffered a suspected cardiac arrest in the stands that October.
David said: “Those two incidents brought back bad memories, obviously. The good thing was that the medical staff reacted very quickly so they could do the right thing at the right time.
“And that’s why it’s so important to learn CPR and how to recognise a heart issue.
“We need to educate people and at least one person in every family should know basic first aid.
“You will probably never have to use it, but the knowledge will allow you to react if something happens at home or at work.”
David suffered depression after his near-death experience as he questioned his life and why he had been brought back.
He reflects: “Life goes on and time is a healer. I have a new girlfriend for seven years now and a baby who is going to turn five in ten days’ time.
“Life continues and you have to go along with it.
“On the other hand, I still sometimes look at the scar on my chest and it reminds me, I was a lucky guy. I think there must be someone up there that pushed me to stay, but I don’t know why. I still have so many questions I cannot answer.
“When I introduce Maeva to people, I say, ‘This is my girlfriend and we met the day I died.’
“You could make a movie script out of our relationship because it’s hard to believe but this could happen to anyone. I’m proof that it does.”
- David is backing the British Heart Foundation’s Heart Month and its partnership with Omaze, which is offering the chance to win a stunning £3million house in North London.
- The draw will help raise funds for BHF’s research into heart diseases.
- Find out more at omaze.co.uk.
- For more information about Heart Month, visit bhf.org.uk/heart-month-2023.
What are the symptoms?
A CARDIAC arrest is an emergency that usually happens without warning.
If someone is in cardiac arrest, they collapse suddenly and will be unconscious, unresponsive, not breathing or not breathing normally – this may also mean they are making gasping noises.
Without immediate treatment, the person will die.
If you see someone having a cardiac arrest, phone 999 and start CPR.
Q) WHAT causes a cardiac arrest?
A cardiac arrest is caused by a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), cardiomyopathies (disease of the heart muscle), inherited heart conditions, heart valve disease, myocarditis, a heart attack, a severe haemorrhage, a severe drop in oxygen levels, electrocution or a drug overdose.
Q) WHAT’S the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack?
A heart attack happens when the blood supply to the heart muscle is cut off. This is often caused by a clot in a coronary artery.
A heart attack can lead to a cardiac arrest. It is important to get medical attention immediately by calling 999 for an ambulance if you have heart attack symptoms.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, says: “Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest, and knowing CPR could be the difference between life and death.
“It only takes 15 minutes to learn with our free RevivR training tool – that’s a coffee break, half-time in the football or the time you might spend scrolling through social media. It could be the most important lesson you ever learn.”