WOJCIECH SZCZESNY has admitted that he thought he was “going to die” after suffering a heart scare while playing for Juventus.
In April, the former Arsenal star felt pains in his chest during the Europa League clash against Sporting Lisbon.
The Polish international revealed that he started to feel the pain after passing the ball to one of the defenders.
Szczesny, 33, claimed that it felt like his heart would “explode”, leaving him fearing for his life.
He told Canal Plus Polonia: “It was scary. I really thought I was going to die.
“After passing a ball to the defender, I felt like my heart was about to explode.
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“During a corner kick, I told [Arkadiusz] Milik I was hurt, but the Sporting players were already taking a corner kick.”
The former Arsenal goalkeeper took no chances as he started to feel chest pains and immediately called for a substitution.
Team-mate Manuel Locatelli was first on the scene when the Pole put his hand on his chest and immediately alerted the medics.
Goal Italia stated at the time that Szczesny reported an increased heart rate and shortness of breath when he came off.
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Thankfully, Juventus later sent out a tweet confirming that the goalkeeper was fine.
After more tests, the goalkeeper was found to be fine and returned to the starting line-up for the reverse fixture against Sporting.
However, Szczesny has admitted that the reasons behind the episode still remain a mystery.
He added: “The chest pain was horrible.
“To this day, we don’t know the reason. Probably back or spine problems.”
Szczesny spent eight years at Arsenal, where he came through the academy, before spending two years on loan at Roma in 2015 and joining Juve permanently in 2017.
Football has been rocked by a number of heart scares in recent years.
In horrifying scenes, Christian Eriksen collapsed live on TV during a Euro 2020 clash against Finland.
The Dane was then forced to take time out of the game as Italian regulations did not permit him to play with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which he had inserted following the incident.
He then rebuilt his career in a six-month spell at Brentford and is now thriving at Man Utd.
But Man City legend Sergio Aguero was forced to retire aged just 33
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He was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia after being taken to hospital with breathing difficulties during a Barcelona game.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
