A Premier League footballer has shared his harrowing experience of nearly facing heart failure, which he overcame by making a significant change in his life.
Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, who is currently enjoying a stellar season as one of the most promising full-backs in the league with 10 assists under his belt, has been linked with a transfer to top-flight leaders Liverpool due to his exceptional form. However, the 27-year-old’s career was almost derailed when a medical examination during a potential move to AC Milan in 2020 uncovered a serious heart condition.
At the time, the US international was playing for Wigan Athletic and was only 22 years old. He recently opened up about the ordeal on Fozcast, a podcast hosted by ex-Manchester United and Wrexham keeper Ben Foster.
Robinson said: “I was having these things called ectopic heartbeats, which are inefficient heartbeats, and I was having too many of them, too often. The cardiologist I had at the time said anywhere from three to five per cent was a normal level, and mine was 15 per cent.
“It was something that might not show up on an ECG if you do your medical at a team in England, but when you go over to Italy, they’re really stringent. I think that a couple players in the league have died from cardiac arrests, so they’re very strict on heart conditions.”
Robinson was left heartbroken and was initially set to undergo an ablation procedure in March 2020 to eliminate the faulty electrical heart tissue. However, due to the onset of the Covid lockdown, the procedure was postponed for three months.
During this time, his then-girlfriend advised him to completely eliminate caffeine from his diet to help stabilise his heart rate. This suggestion would have a profound impact on his life following a surprising discovery by his doctors.
He said: “I went in to have the surgery in June, where they basically put a catheter through your groin, they map out your heart with a wire, and then they try and burn off the piece of your heart that they think is causing the irregular heartbeats.
“I could see them mapping my heart and at this point, I know what the ectopic heartbeat looks like. I could see from the ECG on the screen that I wasn’t having any, even after about five minutes.”
The medical team then explained that they would need to accelerate his heart rate to induce the abnormal heartbeats and administered adrenaline. However, even after 10 minutes, the irregular heartbeats did not occur, leading the doctors to conclude that they couldn’t proceed with the operation.
He said: “I’m sitting on the operation bed waiting for my cardiologist to come in. I’m just thinking that I’ve wrapped it here and I’m not playing football ever again. He comes in and goes: ‘No, it’s good news. We’re going to give you an ECG to take away for three days and we’ll monitor your heartbeat’.”
After 72 hours of monitoring, Robinson’s heart was ticking over just fine, which left his medical team scratching their heads. That confusion lasted until Robinson mentioned something he had changed recently.
He said: “They were just like: ‘What have you done differently? ‘ I said I’d been off caffeine for however long and they said: ‘Yep, just don’t have any of that then’. The NHS, along with the British Heart Foundation, suggests that most individuals with heart conditions can consume caffeine modestly – that’s around four to five cups of coffee daily.
But should you find yourself suffering from palpitations or other adverse reactions after consuming caffeine, it is advised to cut back or eliminate it altogether and seek medical advice. Caffeine sensitivity can vary from person to person, and monitoring how much you consume could be necessary.
In instances of heart-related concerns related to caffeine intake, a consultation with your GP is always a wise step to figure out what is best for you personally. For Robinson, his journey took a turn for the better post-health scare, leading to a transfer from Wigan to Fulham in August 2020 for an impressive fee of £2m.
Despite the initial fright, the skilled left-back has succeeded in flourishing within his career, with current estimates placing his value at £40m. Discussing his predicament further, Robinson said: “It is scary thinking that if I didn’t have that medical, I would have just carried on with my lifestyle and I was approaching heart failure.
“It’s a very common thing for black or mixed race people to have heart abnormalities. I didn’t even drink much coffee, but when I was at Wigan, we had a car school where we all met at Starbucks. Then I was having a caffeine shot for a game, which quite a lot of players do. That was enough for me to have an abnormality.”