Boxer Recovers After Cardiac Arrest During Amateur Match

“Even now I’m having to process it, I still can’t get my head around it.” Myles Sarpong, a resident of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, expressed that he felt “lucky to be alive” after experiencing a cardiac arrest during an amateur boxing match. The boxing encounter resulted in a bleed to his brain, necessitating a ten-day period in a medically-induced coma. Merely three weeks after emerging from his coma, and only four days post-discharge from the hospital, Myles participated in a five-mile (8km) run with his family. In response to an inquiry about his experience with the run after his extended hospital stay, Mr. Sarpong humorously responded, “Easy.” He added, “It’s nice to get out, get active again – before I was just stuck in a bed, I couldn’t walk, and now I can run and get out in the wilderness. It’s nice.” On October 5, Mr. Sarpong competed in what was only his second competitive white collar boxing match in London. White collar boxing, while entirely amateur, adheres to professional regulations, which include the absence of head guards. This form of boxing lacks oversight from a governing body and is classified as unlicensed. In the second round of his fight, Mr. Sarpong sustained a blow to his head, subsequently experiencing a cardiac arrest. His mother, Nina, his brother, Lewis, and his girlfriend, Hannah, were all present in the audience during the event. The 22-year-old was transported urgently to St George’s Hospital, where surgeons performed an emergency procedure to address the bleed on his brain. He recounted, “I literally remember warming up, weighing myself and the rest is just gone.” He continued, “My next memory was probably being fully conscious, like, eight days ago – I remember waking up and seeing my mum and girlfriend.” “I didn’t actually know anything that happened to me – I thought I made it throughout the whole fight, it’s all really a blur,” he added. Now having achieved a full recovery, Mr. Sarpong, who resides in London, stated that he felt “like it never happened.” Accompanied by his family, he recently returned to the hospital to express gratitude to the medical team who provided his care. He commented, “It’s weird because I can’t remember any of the nurses, but everyone remembers me.” “It was nice to thank everyone because, really, I think they did their best and I’m here now, thankfully, to them,” he expressed. Following the event, Mr. Sarpong was informed that his brain would require a few years for complete recovery and that he should refrain from boxing permanently. He reflected, “I’m still trying to get my head around it, honestly, because that was my main, my main focus and my main thing in my life.” Readers can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. This content is copyrighted by BBC 2024. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external sites and provides information regarding its approach to external linking.