Former Super Eagles and Arsenal star Kanu Nwankwo may have had a fatal heart attack if his wife hadn’t paid attention and spotted an abnormality.
In 1996, Kanu had to undergo an open-heart surgery to and made a comeback to football, winning trophies for his club sides. Almost ten years later, he was a happy family man with three children when his wife Amara, heard his irregular heartbeat and knew something was wrong.
Telling British tabloid, the Daily Mirror; Amara said ‘His heartbeat sounded much louder than normal. I was listening to his chest and it sounded odd.’
She insisted that he saw a doctor and her fears were confirmed. ‘It was the same faulty valve, she said. ‘It was like a ticking time bomb.’
Papilo is grateful to his wife of thirteen years for saving his life.
His heart condition was first spotted during a medical at Inter Milan and he was out of the game for a year. In 2000 he set up Kanu Heart Foundation to help disadvantaged children. His foundation has sponsored over 500 children for various heart conditions till date.
