Girona defender Daley Blind says he used to “torture” himself over his heart condition but he no longer thinks about it during matches.
In December 2019, the Dutch international was diagnosed with myocarditis — an inflammation of the heart muscle — after suffering from dizziness during Ajax’s Champions League match against Valencia that month.
He was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), a device which monitors and corrects heart rhythm.
Eight months later, the former Manchester United player collapsed during a pre-season friendly with Ajax in 2020 when the incident reoccurred, leading to further medical tests and a stay in hospital, but he was advised his playing career could continue.
In an interview with The Athletic last year, Blind explained he had been “close to another heart attack” during that incident, and his ICD advice had buzzed as his heart rate had gone too high.
Blind, 34, has now referenced the Dutch expression ‘this may be my second or third life’, but added he was “feeling very good” and looking after himself.
“Before, I thought about my condition all the time during matches,” Blind said in an interview with El Periodico. “But now I don’t think about it.
“I tortured myself and it stopped from me letting go, but now I have learned how to only think about the match when I’m playing.”
After his collapse in August 2020, Blind was advised his career could continue — he joined Bayern Munich in January 2023 before moving to Girona this campaign, while he remains an ever-present in the Netherlands international squad.
Blind continued, when asked about his continued career: “You have to believe in yourself and that you can do more than you think. You have to leave the fear behind and to challenge yourself.
“I was scared after the second cardiac arrest, but now I want to help people who have had the same problem as me.”
(ANP via Getty Images)
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