An ICD Saved This Soccer Player Seconds After Collapse

In 2009, 20-year-old soccer player Anthony Van Loo went into sudden cardiac arrest right on the field with everyone watching. He was known to suffer from a heart condition that made him susceptible to heart irregularities, so his collapse wasn't exactly a surprise. 

But it didn't just end there.

Loo had what's called an "ICD," an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. You know those electric shock pads that doctors have, where they shout "CLEAR!" and then shock a patient's abdomen? It was a little electric shock machine like that, implanted in his body.

In 2008, doctors discovered his heart condition and advised him to retire from soccer. He refused, and instead got that ICD. In 2009, as is shown in the video, it very well may have saved his life. Today, he's still around and playing soccer at some of the highest levels.

You can watch the video below, which shows how he collapses on the field, and then also shows how the ICD goes right into action and delivers a shock. He's back up and awake within seconds of collapse.

This video was taken nearly a decade ago, and the technology is still amazing. Thank goodness for modern science, right?

Just think of what might have happened to Van Loo if he hadn't had access to those medical advances, and how his entire life might have been different.


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