Sat Dec 18, 2021 8:15 am
Bothroyd's heart scare
Ex Cardiff City Jay Bothroyd has opened up on the 'scary' time he underwent heart surgery.
While he didn't reveal when it happened, the former Bluebirds front man revealed he recently had an operation on his heart after struggling to breathe while doing fitness drills at his former club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.
"I had heart surgery, I'm fine now but at the time it was really scary," he told Joe's All To Play For YouTube show.
"I took a week off, because it was international break, then when I came back I was training with the fitness coach, doing sprints and all that kind of stuff. I didn't feel right. I was like, gasping.
"I carried on, just thinking it was hay fever or I needed my asthma pump. But I still didn't feel good.
"The day before the game I did the training match, eight versus eight, and then I went to the physio after and said I needed to see a respiratory doctor.
"I went to the hospital... you get your tests done every year, to see what your resting heart rate is, and mine is pretty low, it's like 35 or 36. I went there and [the doctor] said, 'Your heart rate is in the 100s right now'. I was like, 'Really? So, what's the story?'
"Because I was at home and sitting down and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I was thinking that something was wrong but I didn't want to believe it."
He underwent surgery at the hospital just days later, before which the doctor told him he couldn't play football for six months.
He remembers telling his family about it and his loved ones crying upon hearing the news.
"That was difficult," he added, "telling my parents, my wife and my son."
Bothroyd concluded that segment of the interview by confirming he felt well now and is glad he had the procedure.
He announced that he parted ways with the Japanese club last month and is now back in England.