News

FC United player Adam Dodd returns to football after sudden cardiac arrest

Never, ever give up.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 24th January 2023

Footballer Adam Dodd made his return to football just seven months on from nearly losing his life following a cardiac arrest.

The 29-year-old footballer plays for FC United of Manchester in the seventh tier of the footballing pyramid, but his days on the pitch were nearly cut short after a terrifying near miss last June.

The Kirkham-born left-back and his girlfriend Kat went to bed as normal on 3 June, 2022, but she woke up hours later “to the sounds of me in cardiac arrest”, as Dodd puts it.

After performing CPR for a terrifying 16 minutes straight and receiving a total of four defibrillator shocks, Dodd was rushed to hospital and fitted with a life-saving ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defib).

While paramedics admitted at the time that his chances looked slim, he woke up from a coma just four days later and has now managed to make a full comeback, not only returning to training and being restored to the squad but even featuring as a substitute earlier this month. Simply incredible.

ADVERTISEMENT

Having been subbed on in a landmark 100th appearance for the Manchester United phoenix club’s games against Whitby Town, Dodd received a rousing reception from fans of both teams, playing 20 minutes to see out the 2-2 draw.

Speaking in an interview with the MEN, ‘Doddy’ explained the various aspects of his recovery, contracting pneumonia and developing pleurisy while in hospital, which he described as “probably the worst two weeks of my life.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Even after returning home, he detailed how he “was waking up trying to catch [his] breath… in a pool of sweat” and enduring pain akin to “drowning and being stabbed in the back at the same time”.

Having been fitted with the same device as the likes of Christian Eriksen and Daley Blind – who both collapsed following a cardiac arrest while still on the pitch – Dodd received a signed shirt from the midfielder back in November when he first returned to Broadhurst Park.

Adam Dodd and manager Neil Reynolds receiving a framed shirt along with a heartfelt message from Eriksen.

Read more:

Dodd lost three stone while in hospital, suffering a broken rib and sternum following the intense period of CPR, meaning that he had to rebuild significant muscle mass on top of his normal period of recovery to stand a chance of playing football again.

ADVERTISEMENT

Nevertheless, he spent the rest of 2022 aiming to get back on the pitch in the New Year. Just seven days into January and the self-employed plumber achieved his goal and now, despite FC United’s most recent game being called off over the weekend, he is now back in contention for matchday squads.

They play Nantwich Town FC tonight at 7:45pm — here’s hoping the man himself will feature.

Glad to have you back, Doddy.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — FC United of Manchester (via Twitter)

News

‘Sad news’ – the world’s only Vagina Museum has been forced to close

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

There’s a museum for just about everything these days (we all remember trips to the Stockport Hat Works museum) – but the world’s only space dedicated to vaginas has been forced to close again.

The world-first Vagina Museum announced this week that it’s had to vacate its premises and has once again been left ‘homeless’.

The museum, which welcomed 40,000 visitors in the 10 months it was open, was founded to raise awareness of the gynaecological anatomy and health, erase stigma, and act as a forum for feminism.

Inside, visitors could browse everything from educational materials to art pieces inspired by vaginas and vulvas – including giant tampons decorated in red sequins.

The Vagina Museum said it was ‘disappointed’ that it has been asked to leave its space, adding that it will continue to operate digitally until it finds a new base.

They wrote in a heartfelt statement on social media that they were ‘incredibly proud’ of the museum’s achievements.

Fans of the space queued down the street for its final few days in Bethnal Green, before its eventual closure on Wednesday 1 February.

Their statement said: “Sad news. We’ve received notice to vacate our premises at Bethnal Green by the end of this week. As a property guardianship, we’ve always been aware that we may be asked to leave with very short notice. We’re disappointed that it has come so soon.

“@Enter_theVenue the creative hub with whom we share our space, have also been asked to leave. The Vagina Museum will continue to operate in the digital world as we search for a new home.”

The message continued: “We’re sad about this development, but incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished in the ten months we’ve been at our Bethnal Green premises. We’ve welcomed more than 40,000 visitors through our doors, and received so much love and positive feedback.

“In our time at Bethnal Green, we’ve once again demonstrated just how much the world needs and wants a Vagina Museum.

Read more

“Times are, once again, uncertain for us, but we’ve been through this before and risen stronger than ever. With a community like you supporting us, we know we can get through this too.

“We’re actively searching for a new home, and if you know of any vacant spaces (or have one yourself!) please don’t hesitate to reach out. In our home in Bethnal Green, we and ENTER demonstrated that we can transform an empty, unused building into a thriving heart of a community.

“If you don’t have a building, you can still help! Please consider making a donation; a donation of any size makes a huge difference and will help us to weather this storm, just as we’ve weathered storms before.”

The Vagina Museum concluded its thread with: “We’ve made it through a pandemic and a period of temporary homelessness before. With you, together, we can make it through this too.”

You can make a donation to The Vagina Museum here.

Featured image: The Vagina Museum / Angus Young

News

Manchester mum jumps into river to rescue missing pet dachshund that scammers ‘threatened to kill’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A mum from Manchester who feared her pet dog had been stolen by scammers who “threatened to kill” her jumped into a river to rescue the pup.

33-year-old mum of one Alifiya Mohamedbhai, from Burnage, has spoken out about how distraught she was to learn that her beloved pet dachshund, Violet, had gone missing while out on one of her regular walks around Reddish Vale Country Park in Stockport with her dog walker.

Violet, who Alifiya describes as “such a quiet dog” was spooked by something, and suddenly walked off and eventually disappeared.

The dog walker spent eight hours looking for Violet, but unfortunately, there were no sightings.

“She is such a quiet dog and was out on the same walk that she does every day, and has done for two-and-a-half years with my dog walker and best friend,” Alifiya told the MEN.

“Nobody knows what spooked her or what happened.

“She doesn’t wander off to explore and always walks by your feet, but she must’ve turned and just walked off the other way.”

Alifiya Mohamedbhai was distraught to learn that her beloved pet dachshund had gone missing / Credit: Alifiya Mohamedbhai

After finding out that Violet had gone missing, Alifiya said she initially remained calm and was confident that the Apple AirTag fitted to the dog’s collar would help reunite them in the end – but the battery slowly began to die, and eventually stopped showing Violet’s location altogether.

Panicked by what had happened, and devastated by the thought of never getting to see her “baby” again, Alifiya took to social media to spread the word and issued several appeals over four days in the hopes of being able to track Violet down.

Sadly though, it seems Alifiya’s public pleas to find her pup attracted the attention of scammers.

In an incident that has since been reported to the police and is now under investigation, Alifiya was contacted by a man who claimed to have Violet and “threatened to kill” the dog if she didn’t arrange to meet him and hand over £250.

“I had a call from a number telling me they had my dog,” Alifiya continued.

“When I told them she was spayed they said they didn’t want her anymore, but couldn’t have her back and that we needed to pay.

Alifiya’s public pleas to find her pup sadly attracted the attention of scammers / Credit: Alifiya Mohamedbhai

“I had to sit in the bathroom for an hour and 40 minutes because he wanted to hear the extractor fan, and told me he would kill her if I didn’t. Police told me it had been a scam call and that the number and bank account was registered in Leicester.

“I was in such a vulnerable position and almost broke down.”

Days began to pass, and as well as appealing to the public to help, Alifiya and her friends – including dog walker Madeleine – went out to search through Reddish Vale, yet she was slowly beginning to lose hope that Violet would be found alive.

But one morning, four days after going missing, a “miracle” happened.

Alifya said finding Violet safe and sounds was a “miracle” / Credit: Alifiya Mohamedbhai

As Alifiya walked along the River Tame, her phone began to buzz after bluetooth had activated the tag on Violet’s collar to show that she was close by, and it was then that she spotted the little dachshund sat with her tail wagging in a small cove on the embankment.

Without hesitation, Alifiya jumped into the river and waded through the water to get Violet.

Alifiya continued: “As we walked closer, [the tracker] said we were 80ft away, then 70ft away, it was counting down and then we saw her, just wagging her tail and jumping up and down – it was crazy and it was like nothing had happened.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I didn’t even stop to think how deep it was, I just got in the water and ran across.”

Read more:

The incredible moment Violet was rescued was captured on video and shared to social media by Alifiya earlier this week, before going on to be watched by thousands of people worldwide.

Featured Image – Alifiya Mohamedbhai (via Facebook)

More News

News

Gary Neville addresses ‘clumsy like’ on Tweet about Mason Greenwood 

Crime

Wife makes desperate plea to help find husband who ‘vanished’ on canal walk in Worsley

Crime

Mason Greenwood says he feels ‘relieved’ after all attempted rape and assault charges are dropped

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches