Rob Edwards’ tears for Tom Lockyer said it all – this was the football family coming together

Rob Edwards was emotional after Tom Lockyer collapsed on pitch against Bournemouth – PA/Steven Paston

The sight of a tearful Luton manager Rob Edwards marching around the Vitality Stadium in solidarity with fans who had rallied in support of his team captain Tom Lockyer after the defender’s cardiac arrest will stay forever with those present.

Despite all the fanfare and all the money, there are moments when Premier League football pales into insignificance. This was one of those occasions.

An eerie hush descended on the compact stadium when players and supporters immediately recognised the seriousness of the situation before the match was eventually abandoned and Lockyer taken to hospital. Tribal loyalties gave way to an emotional and touching display of the football family coming together, the game putting on its best face.

Thankfully, reports from the hospital said the 29-year-old was “responsive” and “stable” although, with Lockyer having now collapsed twice on the pitch in eight months, there must be doubts over whether he will ever be able to play professional football again. That will have to be a discussion for another day.

Lockyer’s previous health scare had come after just eight minutes of Luton’s play-off final against Coventry City at Wembley in May. Then he had suffered an atrial fibrillation and was able to watch from his hospital bed as Luton went on to secure promotion to the Premier League by winning a penalty shootout.

Speaking at the time, Lockyer was surprisingly buoyant about his condition, even underplaying the seriousness of it.

After a minor operation during his five-day stay in hospital, Lockyer said the issue should “never happen again” and has played in almost every game so far in Luton’s first season in the Premier League.

He added: “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. I was quite lucky. They knew straight away what it was and it wasn’t life-threatening.

“My heart wasn’t responding as it should in those situations. There’s not really any reason to say why that happened. I’ve had my heart checked and double checked with all the scans and tests they can do and they’ve all come back positive.”

On Saturday, Lockyer had made his usual all-action start to the game, being clattered at one stage by Ryan Christie and almost coming close to scoring.

Then the atmosphere in the ground suddenly changed as Lockyer fell to the ground away from the action. It was Bournemouth’s Philip Billing who initially rushed over to him with Edwards then racing onto the field soon after, demanding that concerned players on both sides give the Luton captain room.

Edwards rushed onto the pitch – Reuters/Toby Melville

Luton medical staff immediately called for assistance and, as treatment began, harrowing scenes took place around the stadium with Lockyer’s team-mate Issa Kabore falling to his knees at the side of the pitch to pray.

Both sets of supporters sang Lockyer’s name and there were distraught looks on the faces of the Luton officials in the directors’ box.

Once stadium announcer Mike Botto told supporters that the game had been “suspended” – later changed to “abandoned” – fans looked on in disbelief. Both sets of players and managers returned to the pitch to applaud all sides of the stadium with Edwards the last to leave. The tears flowed as he tapped his chest and implored everyone to keep cheering Lockyer’s name.

The subsequent Luton statement gave reassurance. It said: “Our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatters captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher. He received further treatment inside the stadium, for which we once again thank the medical teams from both sides.

“Tom was transferred to hospital, where we can reassure supporters that he is stable and currently undergoing further tests with his family at his bedside. We would like to thank everyone for their support, concern and loving messages for Locks.”

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