FC United of Manchester defender returns to action following heart attack

Dodd almost lost his life on June 3 when the incident occurred at his home.

It led to his girlfriend having to perform CPR for 16 minutes while paramedics raced to the scene.

Against all odds, he survived the ordeal and completed his miraculous road to recovery earlier this month after coming on as a second half substitute in the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Whitby Town.

His ordeal is not too dissimilar to that of Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen, who also had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) fitted after going into cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at the European Championships in 2021.

"Eriksen was in the safest place for it to happen,” Dodd told the Manchester Evening News.

“I was in my bedroom, my girlfriend was carrying out CPR for 16 minutes. It was a race against time really.

“Most people would have written me off and you couldn’t blame them.”

The left-back, who first joined the club in 2019, went on to appear as a second half substitute in Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory at Nantwich Town in the Northern Premier League.

Dodd - who admitted he was “set free” by the news that he could return to football, four weeks after having his ICD fitted - is counting his blessings as he continues to work his way back to full fitness.

"I don’t think it’s really sunk in, I’m still focused on getting back to where I was, that’s match fit and my performance levels from where I left off," Dodd said.

"When I do think about it, I’ve gone from dying, to being given a slim chance of waking up at all, then a slim chance of waking up normal, to getting back on the pitch in six months' time. It’s unbelievable."

Photo credit: FC United of Manchester