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.
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🙌 Doddy's back!
He's fought huge three battles and now rejoins the squad for the Whitby game, looking to make his 100th appearance on Saturday
He tells his story here and pays tribute to everyone who got him to this point https://t.co/rWN8RhKdmD
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.”
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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.
☺️ We had a very special guest at Broadhurst Park today as Adam 'Doddy' Dodd came to the game today, & he was presented with an FC shirt by manager Neil Reynolds, inscribed with the message
"To Adam, don't ever give up, Christian Eriksen" and signed
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.
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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.
Featured Image — FC United of Manchester (via Twitter)
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Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”