Mum's horror as son's heart stops in boxing ring

A mother has described the heartbreaking moment her son suffered a cardiac arrest during a boxing match.

Nina Sarpong, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, had gone to watch her son Myles compete in his second competitive fight in Kingston in London on Saturday.

But early in the second round she said he was punched in the head and collapsed.

Paramedics carried out CPR on the 22-year-old for 10 minutes before he was put into an induced coma and rushed to St George's hospital in Tooting.

Ms Sarpong said: "Myles took a blow to his head, he was unsteady and fell to the ground.

"At that point I just couldn't look so I left."

She said was called shortly afterwards and asked to come back as ambulance crews had been sent to the scene.

Ms Sarpong said there were 20 people around her son and he was still on the floor.

The paramedics put Myles into a medically induced coma before he was rushed to hospital.

A CT scan revealed he had a bleed on the brain and surgeons needed to remove part of his skull to relieve pressure.

Myles remains in a coma in neuro-intensive care.

Doctors are gradually reducing the sedation and monitoring her son 24-hours-a-day.

It is not known when Myles may regain consciousness or whether he will have suffered any permanent brain damage.

"It's just waiting, that's the bit that's horrible, it's just waiting," said Ms Sarpong.

She said: "Until he is conscious we don't know what damage there is to the brain. When he had the cardiac arrest he had CPR for 10 minutes so we don't know the effect of the reduced oxygen on his brain."

Myles had been living in London for the last four years working as a chef at a cafe in Wimbledon.

He got into boxing as a way to stay fit and boost his mental health, and the match on Saturday was only his second competitive fight.

Ms Sarpong has had to close up her independent sports shop, Runwize, in Wallingford so that she can be close to Myles.

Her 19-year-old son Lewis and her sister are staying with her in London.

Ms Sarpong said they take it in turns to be at Myles' bedside.

Her sister Sarah Hatton has set up a crowdfunding page to help pay for a hotel room and living costs.

So far they've raised nearly £12,000 and Ms Sarpong said the generosity has left her "speechless".

"He's such a lovely boy, there's been such lovely things said about him," she said.

"I sit by his bedside and I say 'so many people are thinking about you and praying for you wishing you well'."

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