The former West Ham and Newcastle goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop, is conscious after he collapsed before Sunday’s friendly between Real Madrid and Milan. Hislop, who made 26 appearances for Trinidad and Tobago, was working as a pundit for ESPN in California when he fell to the ground during a pitchside interview at the Rose Bowl.
His ESPN colleague Dan Thomas immediately called for help and later provided a positive update. Thomas tweeted: “Shaka is conscious. The medics are looking after him.”
During half-time of the friendly Thomas was able to offer more detail on the condition of the 54-year-old, who played for Reading, Newcastle, West Ham, Portsmouth and Dallas across a 15-year professional career.
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“Half-time here at the Rose Bowl, it is AC Milan 2 Real Madrid 0 but that of course is very much secondary to what happened ahead of the game,” Thomas said on ESPN. “My mate, Shaka, [is] not here, but as it stands, it’s good news. He’s conscious, he’s talking. I think he’s a little embarrassed about it. He’s apologised profusely, not a man who likes people to make a fuss of him.
“Obviously far too early to make any sort of diagnosis, but the important thing is that Shaka’s conscious and we spoke to his family as well because you imagine seeing that happen live, there can’t be many more things that can scare you. Fortunately we have spoke to his wife and things are looking OK.”
English (US)