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Luton's Lockyer to visit Bournemouth after near-death ordeal / Photo: © AFP
Luton's Lockyer to visit Bournemouth after near-death ordeal
Tom Lockyer will return to the scene of his cardiac arrest when Luton face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday.
Luton defender Lockyer was hospitalised for five days after his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds in a Premier League game against Bournemouth on December 16.
The 29-year-old Wales international was subsequently fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and has since admitted it is "out of his hands" if he will ever play again.
But, 88 days on from the incident, Lockyer is due to meet with the medical team who saved his life before being presented to the crowd at half-time of Wednesday's re-arranged fixture.
"It will be emotional going back and reliving that experience but we know we have to do it," Luton manager Rob Edwards said on Tuesday.
"Locks will meet the people who helped saved his life and see their supporters, who were unbelievable on the day.
"It will be nice to be able to close that part of the story up and concentrate on moving forward.
"It was a really difficult experience that we all went through. The main thing now is that Locks is okay and the silver lining is that some good will have come from it with more awareness on CPR and the importance of knowing what to do in those emergency situations."
There are plans for a minute's applause in tribute to the medics who saved Lockyer and Edwards said: "They are the true heroes. It is only football and there are more important things.
"What those guys did in the most pressurised moment was incredible and they deserve all the attention and affection that they are going to get."
Lockyer, whose girlfriend gave birth to their first child at the end of last month, also suffered a collapse during the Championship play-off final victory against Coventry in May.
His visit to Bournemouth will be cathartic on a personal level but his absence on the pitch is sure to be felt as third bottom Luton battle to avoid relegation.
On a potential return to action for Lockyer in the future, Edwards said: "It is day-by-day at the moment.
"He will enter into a period of rehabilitation but that can take a long time, months, so it is one step at a time at the moment.
"He will be coming down tomorrow which is great. He has got bigger things on his mind with a new baby and he is in a position where that is his main focus right now."
S. Sokolow--BTZ
