Rafa: My son saw Muamba collapse and realised it could have been me

PERSPECTIVE ... Rafael van der Vaart

RAFA VAN DER VAART had to console his traumatised son Damian after Fabrice Muamba collapsed at Tottenham.

The six-year-old watched from the stands as medics tried to keep Muamba alive after the Bolton midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest in last month’s FA Cup tie at White Hart Lane.

Spurs’ Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart described how:

Damian feared his dad could suffer the same fate as Muamba.

Wife Sylvie’s successful fight against cancer had helped him understand what really matters — even before that night at the Lane.

Growing up in a family of travellers helped him become a superstar.

Talking about the incident with Muamba, who is now making as miraculous recovery, Van der Vaart said: “It was a horrible feeling.

“Firstly because it happened to a 23-year-old lad and then from feeling powerless to help. I’d never witnessed such a scene. I still have in my memory that immense silence that descended on the stadium during those long minutes. It was a deathly silence.

“Everyone was praying on the pitch that Fabrice would stay alive. At that moment, football did not exist any more.

“That put things in perspective. In football we’re always obsessed with victory.

“Sometimes it makes sport a bit too important in relation to reality. My son was at the stadium that evening. He saw a player collapse and he realised that could have been me, his father.

“Going home he was completely traumatised.

“I had to explain to him that it was the risk of the profession but it did not happen often.

“So yes, that incident gives you a sense about life and your priorities, though I think from a personal point of view I never lost that.

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