Former Premier League midfielder Fabrice Muamba has told Enock Mwepu he is "here if he wants to talk" after the Brighton star was forced to retire aged 24 due to a hereditary heart condition.
Muamba, who was 23 years old when he suffered a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup match, has been part of an initiative to help people learn basic CPR via Snapchat after the procedure helped save his life. The ex-England Under-21 international retired shortly after his own 24th birthday following medical advice, and has continued to work in football in a variety of roles.
Speaking to Mirror Football , Muamba discussed the challenges which come with forced early retirement and opened up on the value of CPR training. While facilities at top-level clubs allow those like Muamba to receive the best on-pitch treatment, these are not always there at grassroots level.
"With the situation with Enock, I think he will need time to adjust," Muamba says. "He needs support as much as he can, because [he’s gone from] being able to say you're going to play football today, and then tomorrow you can't play football because your health is your number priority.
"As I've said many times, I'm here if he wants to speak, I'm happy to have a conversation with him, and I hope that Brighton will keep him in some capacity at the football club because he is still young and has still got a lot to offer in the game. The most important thing is the support that he will get from the world of football.
"I'm sure the FA, the PFA, Brighton, the Premier League, will all come around and find a solution or help to find him something to do after football. He's still young, has got many, many years ahead of him, and you just hope he has great support around him."
Muamba remained within football after retiring. He has worked in broadcasting and more recently moved into coaching, rejoining former club Bolton Wanderers in a role with their academy teams.
He has not forgotten the moment in 2012 when his life was saved, though, and has continued to push for more education on CPR. It is this mindset which has prompted the ex-footballer to support a partnership between Snap the Red Cross and social technology agency Gospooky which allows Snapchat users to learn CPR skills using augmented reality.
Using a new lens, Snapchat users will be presented with a a life-sized digital image of a person, with the help of augmented reality technology. They will then be given a step-by-step guide on how to administer CPR, with a view to helping them learn the relevant techniques they can apply them in real-world situations.
"Prior to my accident, I didn't know much about CPR, and then obviously during my accident one of the main things they performed was CPR," Muamba says. "So after you recover, you start asking questions, you learn how important it is to you.
"I was fortunate enough that when it happened to me, it happened in a football stadium where I had four doctors, one cardiologist, I had an ambulance which was 10 seconds away from me. Not everybody has that privilege. That's why this initiative is very important, why this campaign is very important. It will save lives long-term.
" It's a skill that you don't know how important it is until you find your loved one or someone that you're close to in a very difficult circumstance where they need CPR. It's about continuously learning and doing more and more stuff so it becomes second nature to you as a person, because once you find yourself in that environment, that predicament, you're able to perform the CPR to an individual and that gives [people] a better chance of surviving a cardiac arrest."
While Muamba has found ways to make a difference both inside and outside football, he recognises Mwepu - and others like him - can benefit from taking some time to figure out future steps. The 34-year-old had hoped to be able to resume his playing career up until the point he hung up his boots, and recognises the biggest changes come in the day-to-day.
"For me, it was more of a 'just take your time, then when you're ready, call us and we will give you this and that'," Muamba adds. "Not everybody has that type of opportunity, but because [Mwepu] is in the Premier League I think he should maximise every single opportunity to come his way, get in touch with clubs, find out if there's a course to do.
"The biggest thing you find is when you stop playing football, the problem is not having a routine. Because you don't have a routine, all of a sudden it's 'I don't know what to do with myself', and I hope with him he can find a routine and that way he can slowly and surely find a better way to make the most of his life.
"The support he has from his family, his football club and the football world, that will also be key to make his transition as smooth as possible. If he wants to speak and to reach out, I'm more than happy to have a conversation just to share my own experiences. It's not an easy thing to do."
The new lens is available now on Snapchat. To find out more about how to perform CPR or other first aid procedures visit http://simplefirstaid.org/app.
