Jeddah: On World Heart Day which falls on September 29, a Hyderabadi NRI in Saudi Arabia died while playing cricket on Friday.
Mohammed Atif Khan aged 52, a native of Muradnagar in Hyderabad, was playing cricket at a ground in Rakha in Al Khobar, collapsed after a cardiac arrest.
In the initial period of the match, Atif Khan appeared to be fine. However, he suddenly felt severe chest pain and collapsed. His fellow players rushed to his rescue.
Soon after the incident, Atif Khan was taken to a nearby polyclinic and then moved to a hospital. However, he died as his oxygen level dipped.
The cricketer is survived by a wife and three children, all living in Hyderabad.
“If he was given CPR on time, the situation could have been different,” said Dr. Abhijeet Vergees, a noted physician in Al Khobar.
Explaining about CPR, Dr. Vergees said “When a person’s heart stops beating, every second counts. CPR provides vital chest compressions and rescue breaths that help maintain blood flow and oxygenation to the brain and other vital organs until professional medical help arrives. Rapid initiation of CPR increases the chances of survival significantly”.
Some community organisations are coming forward to provide basic training for CPR. Recently in Qatar, IWWO (Indian Women Welfare Organisation) held training sessions for imparting CPR training to the Indian community.
“It is necessary now to learn CPR,” added, Rajani Murthy, president of IWWO, who had organized CPR training in Doha.
An “alarming” number of young patients in the Gulf region are suffering heart attacks and are being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, according to medical professionals, with the onset of the illness being noticed in people about 10-15 years earlier here than in other parts of the world.
Health experts have cautioned that poor lifestyle choices – including unhealthy diet, smoking, and a lack of exercise and sleep – have seen an increasing number of patients under 50 complain of heart ailments.
The World Heart Federation reveals that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the Middle East and North Africa region and is responsible for more than one-third of all deaths, approximately 1.4 million people, every year.
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