Bas Dost has confirmed that he will take a break from football after being diagnosed with an inflamed heart.
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At the weekend, Dost collapsed on the pitch during NEC Nijmegen’s clash with AZ Alkmaar and he has been in the hospital since.
In a statement on the NEC website, Dost said on Thursday, “I have now heard from my cardiologist what caused what happened to me during the AZ – NEC match in Alkmaar. I have had many tests in recent days and they have shown that I have an inflamed heart muscle (myocarditis). There can be various reasons why a heart muscle becomes inflamed and the consequences can be quite serious, but I was lucky that I was successfully resuscitated on the field. I cannot emphasize enough how grateful I am to the doctors of NEC and AZ for their adequate performance on the field.”
“The tests will continue in the coming days and then I will go home and need to rest to fully recover from this. Only after that moment will I gain more insight into my future and from then on I can share more about it. For now I will take a break from football and spend the coming time with my family. I hope everyone respects that. I will report back to the Goffert Stadium in the coming months. Then I will also tell my story one day, especially to help the sports world and learn from what happened to me and so that I can still tell it.”
The 34-year-old ended his statement with, “I would once again like to thank everyone from the football world, at home and abroad. You have shown me so much attention. That touched and supported me and my family.”