Scots footballer's heart saved after 'rare' injury during horror accident at kids' match

A little footballer's heart was saved in the nick of time after a dislocated collarbone led to an extremely rare injury.

Isaiah Muzaale, 9, who plays for Hearts of Midlothian FC at Academy Level was playing Glasgow Rangers on June 7.

The youngster suffered an accidental clash with another player and fell to the ground in pain.

His parents Kerry and Edwin Muzaale rushed him to the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.

Quick-thinking medics found the schoolboy had popped his collarbone near vessels pumping blood to his heart and his windpipe.

A top trauma team then sent the youngster for surgery amid fears one wrong move could lead to the bone piercing his vessels and stopping the supply to his heart.

Mum Kerry, from Paisley, said: "When we arrived at the hospital, they gave an X Ray, but it came back clear. Seeing how much pain he was in, the doctors gave him a CT scan and found that he had a dislocation.

"Thinking that your son has a broken bone is one thing - learning his injury could land him in intensive care is another.

"We are so grateful to the team there. They found out quickly what was wrong and knew we needed a cardiac team on standby for the worst-case scenario."

Isaiah was then sent to the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, where the specialist Cardiac Centre for Children devised a treatment. Due to the complexity of the injury, top surgeons around the world were drafted in to advise.

Kerry continued: “We were then looped in with the Paediatric Major Trauma Coordinators at the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow and advised that we would be transported there for the team to assess and operate on Isaiah.

"He had an MRI, and an ultrasound and then his surgeon Miss Claire Murnaghan decided his injury was so rare she wanted to reach out globally to surgeons to discuss options.

"She was amazing. She created a surgery plan for Isaiah to fix his collarbone without causing any further damage internally.

"One week later he had his surgery (June 14) and he was allowed home on the Saturday.

"To our relief, our only problem now is to get him to stay still so he can heal properly."

The football-mad youngster is now back on the mend and hopes to recover quickly so he can get back to playing for his football team, the Glenvale Boys 2014s, Taekwondo, and the school dodgeball team.

Kerry added the support Isaiah and her family received from the football community was invaluable.

She added: “We also cannot believe the support from the football community at academy and first team level. We’ve had video messages from Hearts and St. Mirren, and offers of physio support from team doctors, including from Rangers. We’re overwhelmed with their kindness.”

Jenna Hills, Paediatric Major Trauma Coordinator at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow said: “At the hospital, we are focused on person-centred care and, as a major trauma centre, it is important to have one point of contact for parents and carers when there are multiple people involved in treating their little one.

“We make relationships with the families, like Isaiah’s, and we are so happy when we get to see them leave here together with a smile on their face. We are delighted to hear that Isaiah is doing well at home. He was so brave during his time with us, and we look forward to hearing when he is back playing football in a few months. We have a feeling we’ll see him scoring goals on TV one day."

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