Angel City’s Savy King’s ‘prognosis is excellent’ following surgery for heart abnormality after collapse

Angel City defender Savy King recovers from an operation to correct a heart defect after a medical event during an NWSL match on Friday.

King collapsed in the 74th minute of the 2-0 victory of Angel City on the Utah Royals and received about 10 minutes of medical attention on the field before she was eliminated. She was then taken to a hospital and underwent a successful operation on Tuesday, in which the club said that “her prognosis is excellent.”

“Savy King was admitted to Cedars-SINAI Medical Center on Saturday morning after receiving immediate care in the California Hospital Medical Center, after a medical incident during the Angel City FC match on Friday evening,” the club said in a statement on Tuesday. “After a thorough evaluation, doctors discovered a heart defect and Savy today underwent a successful operation to tackle it. She now rests and recovers surrounded by her family, and her prognosis is excellent.”

The Van King family has also issued a statement in which they have been grateful to the medical staff that the player attended, as well as her benefactors.

“On behalf of our whole family, together with Savy, we are so moved by the love and support of Angel City players, employees, fans and community, as well as football fans throughout the country,” said King’s Family. “We are blessed to share that Savy is recovering well and we look forward to having her at our home soon. We want to thank the incredible medical staff and players of Angel City who have acted quickly, as well as the medical teams that have given her such exceptional care.

In such circumstances, the medical event forced new questions about the protocols of the NWSL, because the game resumed after the replacement of King. The competition followed their policy and a return to play in these cases is not necessarily unusual in sport, but the competition rules of the competition make the postponement, delay or cancellation of a match in the case of a “serious incident, injury or deadly to a player, coach, officially, team representative or spectator or other a spectator or other a spectator or others.”

After the game, head coach Jimmy Coenraets of Royals argued that the game should not have resumed, while the American national team of women and Washington Spirit Star Trinity Rodman wrote on social media that “in no world would not have to continue that game.”

The NWSL said on Saturday that it “will assess and determine whether changes should be made to that protocol.”