Berlin: Striker Daniel Engelbrecht has made history by becoming the first player in German professional football to play with a defibrillator after he nearly died from an inflammation of the heart. The 24-year-old collapsed 16 months ago while playing for third division Stuttgart Kickers and was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, which looked to have ended his career.
<img title="Daniel Engelbrecht" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/nov/Daniel1711.jpg" alt="Daniel Engelbrecht" /> Daniel Engelbrecht
Emotional return He needed four operations and the fitting of a defibrillator, to regulate his heart beat, last December. But an emotional Engelbrecht made his return off the bench on Saturday in the 76th-minute of a 1-0 regional cup defeat against FV Ravensburg and wore a chest protector under his football shirt. &ldquo;I have often struggled against death, so no-one expected that I could play again. This is the best day of my life,&rdquo; he told Sky Sports. &ldquo;I am lucky to still be alive, others in my situation have died.&rdquo; Engelbrecht made only a brief appearance due to his lack of match practice as he only joined team training on November 1 after several months of building up his fitness.
Kickers&rsquo; coach Horst Steffen said he was disappointed to lose, but Engelbrecht&rsquo;s comeback &ldquo;shows there are more important things in life than football&rdquo;. Englebrecht says he is slowly getting &ldquo;back to normal&rdquo; after the &ldquo;worst year of his life&rdquo;, but says he has been treated by a psychologist to help him cope with his fears and panic attacks.
&ldquo;I was often afraid that I was going to die,&rdquo; he told Munich-based newspaper the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. &ldquo;The best therapy is to get back to training every day and see that things are ok. &ldquo;I still need to learn to trust my body again.&rdquo;

Striker Daniel Engelbrecht has made history by becoming the first player in German professional football to play with a defibrillator after he nearly died from an inflammation of the heart

After 4 heart operations, German footballer Daniel is back

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Home / Sports / Football / Article / After 4 heart operations, German footballer Daniel is back

After 4 heart operations, German footballer Daniel is back

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