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Soccer player Fabrice Muamba collapsed and "died" on the soccer pitch in front of millions of UK TV viewers 41 minutes into an FA Cup tie game at White Hart Lane soccer ground. For 78 minutes he was dead and even if he lived was expected to have suffered brain damage.

Seconds before he collapsed, Fabrice was gripped by a strange "out-of-body" sensation, felt dizzy and saw double before collapsing literally dead on the soccer pitch. He said, "...it was a kind of surreal feeling, like I was running along inside someone else’s body."

An unusual combination of events was to bring about a life saving deed. By pure chance his life was saved by Dr Andrew Deaner, a cardiologist and Tottenham fan who leapt from his seat in the crowd and rushed to help. Had it not been for a spare ticket, he wouldn’t have been there at all.

As everyone was willing him to live, Dr Deaner organised paramedics resuscitating him, then insisted he was rushed directly to the London Chest Hospital for the best possible specialist care.

Muamba’s father Marcel, a 45-year-old Tesco shop worker from Walthamstow, East London, was at the fateful cup tie told how he begged God to spare his son.

Fabrice has no recollection of the frantic battle to save him which unfolded on live TV in front of millions of fans. After being unconscious for three days and spending 40 days in hospital, he is now back home.

Fabrice said, "I am walking proof of the power of prayer. ....Someone up there was watching over me."

Many will say that it was the power of prayer that helped bring Fabrice back from death, but what of the many non-religous thoughts going out in the ether to save Fabrice? Many were horrified by the events and despite having no real religion, they sent their thoughts out over the days afterwards that Fabrice would be okay.

Since the incident, Fabrice has had all sorts of tests but none of the specialists are sure why he collapsed. All they know is that he has had one of the most amazing recoveries in medical history.

There are many other possible reasons behind what happened to Fabrice, but some may be too daunting to even talk about in such a place.

So swiftly moving on from that darker area, was it prayer that saved the soccer star from death or was it to do with everyone willing him to live through their collective consciousness or a pure miracle that saved Fabrice?

Stephen Richards