Football isn't the most important thing in life...life is

Watching the opening game of La Liga last night between Sevilla and Getafe there was one of those television moments you hope you are never going to witness and when you do see it you just don't know how to react. The match had got off to a sensational start, Getafe under new coach Michael Laudrup had taken the lead with a free kick reminiscent of David Beckham at his best. Getafe then had a player sent off before the millions watching on television watching in Spain and across Europe witnessed something that at the time seemed almost surreal and brought back horrible memories of seeing Marc Vivien-Foe collapse and die whilst playing for Cameroon in the Confederations Cup a few years ago.

A Getafe attack had broken down, the ball running over the goal line for a Sevilla goal kick, when at the bottom of our television screens the Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta collapsed. You knew something serious had happened, firstly because young footballers, Puerta is 22, don't generally collapse and secondly the Sevilla goalkeeper rushed to the aid of his prostrate team mate and began frantically trying to open the defenders mouth - you assumed he had swallowed his tongue. Sevilla is known throughout the footballing world for having the best off field care of any club in the world, it has a small army of physios, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical staff who constantly monitor the club's players to ensure they are in peak condition for each match.

The Spanish international was able to walk from the pitch after being attended by medical staff, he looked a little dazed and a little pale to be honest but nothing unusual and the match continued. Getafe had another player sent off before half time and then in the second half against the nine men Sevilla scored four times to finish 4-1 winners. You thought therefore that that was the end of the story, however it wasn't by a long shot (no pun intended).

Puerta collapsed again in the changing rooms and was given cardiac resuscitation before being taken to hospital. He was admitted to the Hospital Virgen del Rocio where his condition was described as very serious. He was transferred to the intensive care unit where he has been given assisted ventilation and is experiencing hemodynamic instability. The prognosis is very serious. The reports from Spain this morning are that his breathing and brain activity stopped nine times during the night.

Coming just a day after the 18 year old QPR England Youth International Ray Jones died in a car crash, at the end of a week that saw an 11 year old shot dead in Liverpool and yet more troops killed by 'friendly fire' in Afghanistan, it made me realise that there are moments such as these that make you realise how lucky the majority of us are as we go about our lives.