Footballer who watched teammate have stroke on way to game now teaching players CPR

When pro-footballer Adrian Forbes’s teammate suffered a stroke on the way to a match, he felt utterly helpless.

Sol Davis was only 27 when he collapsed on the Luton Town team bus – and everyone on board panicked.

But that awful scene in 2006 spurred Adrian on to make sure the next generation are clued up on how to save a life.

Working as a coach, he has been teaching young players how to carry out CPR – as well as score a goal.

Adrian, 40, said: “It was something that resonated in my mind.

“When I got into coaching young players, I was in a position where I could actually make a difference and tell these ­players what they might do if that situation arose.”

Luckily, Sol survived the stroke and ­continued to play football.

But many other players have had major health scares on the pitch.

Despite being athletes at the top of their game, they can have ­underlying genetic conditions.

In 2012, Bolton Wanderers star Fabrice Muamba, pictured, nearly died after suffering a cardiac arrest aged 23 playing against Spurs.

Adrian, who also played for Norwich City, added: “There’s been several other footballers who had cardiac arrests during matches.

“So I thought it would be good to tell young footballers what to do if ­someone is suffering a ­cardiac arrest or, if they don’t feel confident, advise on what to do.”

Adrian got in touch with experts at the British Heart Foundation who agreed to help him teach CPR to the ten and 11-year-old future stars of Norwich City.

Despite their young age, they took it in their stride and ­understood what an important skill they were learning.

Adrian said: “They really paid ­attention, taking on board the impact of saving ­someone’s life. They started posing really good questions about what to do if someone was having a cardiac arrest.

“They are resilient, intelligent boys ­anyway so they did understand the importance of what they were learning.

“They got the ­realisation, ‘Wow, imagine being the person who could save someone’s life or give ­someone the right information to help save someone’s life?’”

Adrian says he feels “100 per cent” more confident he would be able to help someone now.

He is currently head of academy coaching and ­professional player development at Luton Town and hopes to implement his CPR training there.

He added: “I look at it that it’s a skill you can learn you hope you never ever have to use. But it’s a skill to have just in case.”

■ To volunteer for the British Heart Foundation, click here