“I'm in real pain and my eyes are rolling back”: Racing 92 pillar Hassane Kolingar recounts his heart attack

Racing 92 pillar Hassane Kolingar suffered a cardiac arrest last June. He describes the circumstances of the accident and how the medical community handled his case.

Last week, Hassane Kolingar(26 years old) returned to the rugby field against Lyon after more than six months of inactivity. No “classic” injury kept him away from the field, but a cardiac arrest, contracted last June. In an interview with Midi Olympique, the Racing 92 pillar tells how his life almost changed at the wedding of his friend, Ibrahim Diallo.

“When I got there (at the wedding), I stuck a “Snus” (flavored nicotine ball, available over the counter) against my gum and I sat down waiting for the bride and groom”, he says. It's nothing illegal, huh… There's no tobacco in it but it's real shit, I think […] At one point, I burst out laughing and immediately feel pressure in my chest. My heart is beating really hard. I'm sweating a lot. I see stars. I think I'm just having a hypoglycemic attack and, so as not to ruin the ceremony, I step aside. My eardrums are pounding, I feel like someone is sticking needles in my head […]I'm in pain, really bad pain and my eyes are rolling back. I'm going into cardiac arrest.”

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“The firefighters put me into a coma”

Kolingar is helped, at first, by his teammates and friends from the club (Yoan Tanga, Henry Chavancy), before being rescued by the firefighters. The player experiences tachycardia. “Since the pulse did not go down, the firefighters put me into a coma. To wake me up, they shock me four times”, he explains.

He was transferred to a clinic and then operated on a few days later in a delicate procedure. Why delicate ? The boy already had a scar on his heart dating from his childhood. After his operation and a whole battery of tests, Hassane Kolingar was allowed to play rugby again. All's well that ends well.