Tom Lockyer is in the limelight for having a cardiac arrest and collapsing on the pitch at the Vitality Stadium on 16 December 2023. Currently, he is resting with an ICD fitted in his chest. Dailey Blind and Christian Eriksen have the same device fitted in their chests, which does not stop them from playing well.
The 29-year-old Welsh professional footballer Thomas Alun Lockyer plays for the Wales National Team and Luton Town (as the center-back). Born in Cardiff, Wales, Lockyer has a net worth of $1 million to $5 million as of 2023.
However, there is no information regarding his ethnicity, parents, and siblings, which indicates he prioritizes privacy. He has an Instagram account with 52.1k followers, where he only shares what he wants with his fans.
Is Tom Lockyer Married?
Tom Lockyer is unmarried and does not have kids. However, he never revealed information regarding his love life. The 29-year-old has an Instagram account which does not disclose his partner.
However, Tom has 52k followers on Instagram, where he shares photos regarding his football matches. It depicts he is career-oriented as of now. Thus, we may assume that he is in love with playing FIFA and football.
Career
Tom wanted to play as the center-back for the Cardiff City Football Club at sixteen. However, they removed him due to his smaller age. Thus, he joined Bristol Rovers at seventeen and began playing under them at nineteen. Before that, he was only a youth team player.
Lockyer made his first goal for his team in August 2013 and climbed up the ladder the following year after signing a two-year extension. By December 2015, he became a regular player after performing better multiple times. By August 2017, Lockyer had played two hundred games.
Talking about Lockyer’s international career, he played against Serbia, Austria, Moldova, Panama, and Turkey. He also played in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Lockyer signed a two-year contract with Charlton Athletic in 2019 after the one with Bristol Rovers expired. The contract had a relegation clause, which allowed him not to play in the lower league. Thus, he joined Luton Town in September 2020 without paying any fee to the previous team.
Lockyer only played in Leagues under Bristol Rovers, a Championship under Charlton Athletic, and three Championships and a Premier League under Luton Town. He made 445 appearances and fifteen goals in his entire career. Apart from that, Lockyer made sixteen appearances for the Wales National Team from 2017 to 2023.
Lockyer knocked down his old rivals, Bristol City, in January 2022. He became a captain the same year and collapsed on the pitch while playing against Coventry City. However, Luton Town won, and he celebrated it in the hospital.
Luton Town lost a match in August 2023 but won another the following month. After that, Lockyer again collapsed on 16 December.
Health
After Lockyer collapsed on the pitch due to a cardiac arrest on 16 December, the referee stopped and canceled the match, and everyone in the stadium gave him a standing ovation. He had previously collapsed in the field due to atrial fibrillation in May 2023.
However, Lockyer’s previous collapse was different because he suffered a faster heart rate in the name of atrial fibrillation, and he started playing again after heart surgery. This time, an ICD, which detects and stops irregular heartbeats, has been placed.
Currently, Lockyer is recovering at home and had a defibrillator fitted as of 19 December 2023. The abandoned match will be replayed. The Luton captain was discharged on Thursday with an ICD device fitted. According to the Luton manager, Rob Edwards, it was the scariest moment of his life.
Bournemouth’s paramedics immediately ran to the pitch, within two minutes, decided everything on the spot, and saved Lockyer when the whole world was watching them. Thus, Edward considers them heroes.
Moreover, everyone around Lockyer learned something, especially team spirit, from this incident because they had not faced such a situation before. Lockyer is at home, recovering very slowly after an operation.
Lockyer is in rehabilitation and under the surveillance of renowned cardiologists. Meanwhile, the club provides care to everyone affected by the incident.
