Angel City FC defender Savy King doesn’t remember much about what happened when she collapsed on the field during an NWSL match on May 9.
“I remember that I wasn’t feeling right, and I grabbed my leg because I was trying to distract myself from the fact that I was going to pass out,” King said during an appearance Wednesday on “Good Morning America.” “I remember the staff coming onto the field.”
King, 20, received CPR after dropping to the ground in the 74th minute of a match against the Utah Royals in Los Angeles. She was carted off the field with an oxygen mask on her face and taken away via ambulance.
“They saved my life,” King said. “That will stay with me forever in my heart, and just knowing that I get to play in front of them, too, and say that they were a huge reason why I’m here. I play for them now, too.”
During her ensuing stay at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, doctors determined she had suffered a form of heart attack due to an underlying congenital heart abnormality.
“Savy was born with an anomalous left coronary artery,” said surgeon Dr. Richard Kim. “The left coronary is the most important blood vessel in your heart, and when it’s anomalous it means that it’s in a slightly different location than normal.”
King has not yet been cleared to return to soccer but is optimistic about continuing her career.
“I was just so happy that I was going to be able to recover and be as normal and almost be a Savy 2.0 now,” she said. “So I’ll be back and better than ever.”
King said she plans to use her platform to highlight the importance of CPR training.
“Anything can happen at any time,” she said. “I think just knowing how to do CPR is super important because it can save a life, and it saved my life.”
King started each of Angel City’s eight matches prior to the injury.
The first-ever draft pick (second overall) of expansion Bay FC in 2024, King played 18 matches and made 12 starts last season for the San Jose-based club and tallied two assists.
The Southern California native played for the University of North Carolina before entering the NWSL. She also made numerous appearances for the U.S. youth national under-17 and under-20 teams.
–Field Level Media
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