By Augustine Akhilomen
Ex international, Nwankwo Kanu has lavished so much appreciation on his wife for standing by him during his heart surgery operation.
The Atlanta Olympic gold medalist in the men's football event recently celebrated his wife's 30th birthday, and praised her for her contineous steadfastness in prayer and support both in good and bad moments of his life.
Kanu recounted how his wife(who recently launched a book titled: ‘ Healthy Living with Amara Kanu') saved his life during the second heart surgery operation in 2014, said that his wife (Amara) didn't just save his life but nursed him back to health.
Kanu, now 40, says: “She was saying I should go for a check-up so I took her advice.”
“Anything to do with heart operations is major. You don’t pray to be in that situation. The heart is the most important machine in the body and when it goes off it’s finished.”
“At first, I wasn’t the same guy. I had to gradually come back to life and it was very painful.”
It will be recalled that Fabrice Muamba narrowly escaped death when he suffered a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup match in 2012 , and former Newcastle United player Cheick Tioté who died from a heart attack last month during training in China.
However, the former, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Ajax and Portsmouth star has advised clubs in Europe and around the world to impose strict checks on the players before, during and after the game.
“I played against Fabrice and I met him in Nigeria when he came to visit after the incident. He’s still alive so we thank God for that, but other ones are not here any more like Tioté.
“Players are dying on the pitch and I don’t think it’s being taken seriously enough. The football clubs have to impose strict checks on the players. They do perform them at the start of the season but they should be done quarterly.
“I don’t want this to keep repeating. My wife is right, you should listen to your body and take action.”
