Mitchell Cole retired from professional soccer in 2011 after advice from doctors
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Ex-pro tells CNN Fabrice Muamba's collapse proves he was right to quit soccer
- Mitchell Cole ignored heart condition for eight years due to love of soccer
- Cole was diagnosed with heart problem aged 17 but only retired at 25
- Doctors told him chances of suffering cardiac arrest increased through sport
(CNN) -- Fabrice Muamba's cardiac arrest during a soccer match on Saturday convinced former pro Mitchell Cole he was right to quit the game for fear of suffering a heart attack on the pitch.
Muamba collapsed while playing for English club Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and is still in a critical condition in hospital, though he is now breathing unaided and responding to questions.
Cole, who once played in the second tier of English football, was diagnosed with a heart condition at the age of 17 but decided to play on for another eight years before retiring after doctors told him one more match could kill him.
The 26-year-old has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an irregular thickness of the heart in certain areas, but opted to ignore advice from doctors to try and carve out a successful career in the game.
Muamba's condition continues to improve
But after suffering from shortness of breath during training and in matches last year he returned to his specialist and was told his chances of a heart attack quadrupled when he played sport.
Cole says seeing Bolton star Muamba's horrific collapse on Saturday proved he had made the right decision to retire.
"It [Muamba's cardiac arrest] still sends a chill down my spine because it brings it home that it could have been me," he said.
Fabrice Muamba collapsed during an English soccer match between his club Bolton and Tottenham on Saturday, and is in the intensive care unit of a London heart hospital. 
While Muamba made it to the hospital alive, Cameroon's Marc-Vivien Foe could not be revived after falling to the pitch during a Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia in 2003. 
Spanish football has been hit by two such tragedies in recent times. In August 2009, Espanyol skipper Daniel Jarque died after suffering a heart attack while at a preseason training camp in Italy. 
Two years earlier, Sevilla's Antonio Puerta died in hospital after suffering a heart attack during a Spanish league match against Getafe. The prolonged cardiac arrest damaged his organs and led to a lack of oxygen to the brain. 
In 2002, St. Louis Cardinals baseball pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel bed, having failed to turn up for pregame warm-ups following a heart attack. Basketball lost Reggie Lewis in 1993 when the Boston Celtics' NBA All-Star dropped dead on the court in an offseason practice match at the age of 27. He was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- one of the most common heart conditions. 
Another former NBA star, Arvydas Sabonis, survived a heart attack while in a game in his native Lithuania in 2011 at the age of 46. 
In the NFL, former Tampa Bay and Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams was found dead at home in 2010, with the coroner ruling it was due to cardiomyopathy. Critical condition
Africa's anguish
Spain suffers
Cardiac arrest
Cardinals' loss
NBA mourns
A survivor
NFL casualty
HIDE CAPTION
"I came out of the professional game a year ago and it reiterates that I've made the right decision. I've been one of the lucky ones."
Cole's condition was detected at a young age during a routine test given to all young players coming out of school to go to a professional club.
He was tested over a year-long period shortly after former Cameroon international Marc Vivien-Foe collapsed and died from a heart defect during a match against Colombia in 2003.
Despite Foe's tragic death, and the advice handed down by doctors that he should retire, Cole pressed on despite the risks.
He added: "The information I took from it was that I didn't feel it was enough to stop me in my tracks for having a professional career. I [was told it was a case of] 'it might happen, it might not.'
"I took it upon myself to ignore the doctor's advice and carry on playing."
Players pray for Muamba's recovery
His condition worsened at the start of 2011 and on advice from William McKenna -- the professor of cardiology who diagnosed Cole when he was 17 -- that the risks quadrupled when playing football he retired from the professional game.
McKenna told CNN the cause of most cardiac arrests like Muamba's are genetic but that the vast majority of conditions that can be dangerous to young sportsmen and women should be picked up by tests.
He said: "The testing should be done in adolescence about the age Mitchell was and it should be every year or two years.
"It should be on a routine serial basis to pick up changes at a time when you can actually do something -- you can have another career, you can stay in school, you have other options.
"If you look back there are too many events in young people, not just in football but in all sports. Bearing in mind these conditions are recognizable -- you can make a diagnosis -- and by and large there are treatments which are effective, every effort should be made.
"The onus is not on the National Health Service, the onus should be on the professional sporting bodies to ensure that players participating are safe to participate in what is pushing the body and heart to extremes."
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