Brighton and Zambia International midfielder Enock Mwepu has been forced to retire from football at the age of 24 due to a hereditary heart condition.
This was announced by the club on Monday stating that it will be an “extremely high risk of suffering a potentially fatal cardiac event” If he continued playing.
The BBC reported that Mwepu had recently fallen ill on the trip with the Zambia National team to Mali – where he was unable to train after arriving in West Africa last month and spent four days in the hospital.
On his return to England, the 24 -year- old was diagnosed and Brighton said the result meant the “only option is for him to retire”.
” These tests have concluded that his illness is due to a hereditary cardiac condition, which manifests later in life and was not previously evident on regular cardiac screening”, Brighton said in a statement.
Mwepu said he was retiring with “sadness”, adding he had lived his dream of reaching the premier league but that ” some dreams come to an end”
“This is, however, not the end of my involvement in football, I plan to stay involved in some capacity,” he said in a statement on his Twitter page.
The versatile midfielder joined Brighton from Red Bull Salzburg on a four-year deal worth £18M in July 2021.
He has scored three goals in 27 appearances for Brighton and lastly played for them in their 5-2 win over Leicester in September.
Heart problems in Sports Athletes – especially footballers have been recurrent.
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered from a Cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark in Euro 2020, but was fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD).
Also, Manchester City’s all-time top scorer Sergio Aguero retired from football age 33 after expressing chest discomfort last year.
Former Manchester United Midfielder, Daley Blind was diagnosed of a heart condition in December 2019 but returned to the pitch after ICD was fitted.
Fabrice Muamba collapsed when his heart stopped in a game in 2012, while Cameroon’s Marc- Vivien For died after collapsing in an international match in France.
Source: BBC Sports
