Former Australian cricket star Ryan Campbell has woken up from his coma after suffering a massive heart attack – but doctors don’t yet know what caused the life-threatening episode.
It is believed the 50-year-old was with his family in Stoke-on-Trent visiting the parents of his wife Leontina when he collapsed at a local park.
A passer-by performed CPR until an ambulance arrived at the scene, with doctors placing Campbell in an induced coma.
His brother, Mark, told Triple M on Wednesday morning: ‘They’ve taken the heavy sedation off, so he’s actually woken up.
‘They’re just trying to work out what’s wrong with his heart.’
Campbell’s friend, Perth radio announcer Gareth Parker, added, ‘Doctors don’t believe there’s damage to the heart, but they haven’t been able to find out what’s going on just yet.’
Mr Campbell said his brother doesn’t appear to have suffered any brain damage, but doctors weren’t sure what caused the issue.
Former Australian cricketer Ryan Campbell suffered a heart attack in front of his kids at a park last Saturday in the United Kingdom (pictured with his wife Leontina). On Wednesday he emerged from the induced coma doctors had placed him in
It is also understood Campbell had a pacemaker fitted by doctors when he was first treated after the attack.
His sudden plight has shocked many in the sport, including ex-Australian coach Justin Langer, coming soon after the deaths of cricket greats Shane Warne and Rod Marsh.
‘When Bacchus (Rod Marsh) was the first one (to go in March) it was a huge shock to all of us,’ he said.
‘Then Warney (Shane Warne) and now Cambo (Campbell) – it is hard to get your head around. We are obviously all praying there is a better outcome for him than there was for our other two mates. ‘He’s just a ripping bloke.’
Campbell, a wicketkeeper and batsman from Western Australia in his playing days, coached the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup last year in the United Arab Emirates.
He had only just returned to Europe following a trip to Perth to see his parents.
Campbell, 50, remains in an induced coma in a London hospital and his sudden plight has shocked many in the sport (pictured playing for Western Australia)
Campbell recently tweeted his condolences after cricket legend and former teammate Shane Warne died aged just 52
‘He was here in Perth just last week and fit as a fiddle,’ his friend, 6PR Radio presenter Gareth Parker, said on Tuesday.
‘Under the care of his doctors, he has made some attempts successfully to breathe on his own.
‘This news is a real shock to his family and friends back home in Australia.’
WA Cricket chief executive Christina Matthews said staff were shocked to hear of Campbell’s heart attack.
‘I would like to pass on our heartfelt thoughts to Ryan, his wife Leontina and their family at this time. We know he is in the best care and hope he pulls through and is able to make a full and speedy recovery,’ Matthews told the West Australian.
Campbell was a former teammate of late cricket legend Warne, having played a one-day international against New Zealand alongside him in 2002.
Following Warne’s sudden death in March, Campbell had tweeted an image of himself alongside the legspinner when the pair were in a training camp with the Australian one-day team in the 1990s.
Warne, just two years older than Campbell at 52, suffered a fatal heart attack on the Thai island of Koh Samui in early March.
Campbell, who was an understudy of former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, said playing with Warne had been a highlight of his career.
‘Shane Warne is clearly the greatest I’ve ever played with or against,’ he told Firstsportz in 2020.
Ryan Campbell in his role as head coach of the Netherlands in 2019 (pictured)
Ex-Australian cricketer Ryan Campbell remains in a induced coma in a London hospital after suffering a heart attack (pictured with his wife Leontina)
Ryan Campbell with former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke (pictured right)
The Western Australian cricket mainstay had recently relocated with his family to the Netherlands (pictured with his wife Leontina and their two children)
‘What that guy could do on a cricket field still amazes me… Gilly is up there and I was also a massive Steve Waugh fan. These guys were so great because they always got in the fight and always wanted to win.’
He added being a back-up for a legend such as Gilchrist, who played 96 Tests in a row, was tough, but he cherished the moment when he got the call up to the Australian side.
‘Walking into the SCG change rooms and seeing my name on the locker next to Steve Waugh’s…To say I was nervous to train with him, Warne, McGrath etc was an understatement.’
Warne is not the only famous Aussie aged in their 50s to suffer a deadly attack in recent months.
Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching died days after Warne in March. She was also 52-years-old.
Cricket legend Shane Warne with Liz Hurley at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel grand opening in Vienna in 2012 (pictured)
A recent Heart Foundation study warned the number of heart attacks could rise as Australians missed out on vital health checks amid the Covid pandemic.
The study found that states least affected by the pandemic, including Western Australia and Queensland, had the highest rates of health screening, averaging 30 heart health checks per 1,000 eligible adults, well above the national average of 25 checks per 1,000 adults.
Lockdowns, along with the resource-intensive roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination and booster programs in GP practices, were linked to dramatic drops of up to 40 per cent in people having the check across the country.
A heart health check was added as a temporary item to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) in 2019 following a campaign by the Heart Foundation.
The Heart Foundation is calling for the check to become permanent.
‘This concerning data reinforces the urgency of making heart health checks a permanent part of the MBS, as doctors will be dealing with a backlog of people who need preventative heart health care for years to come,’ Professor Jennings said.
Heart health checks are designed for people who haven’t yet had a heart event but may be at risk of one and is available to Australians aged 45 years and over, and 30 years and over for Indigenous people.