A former Arsenal academy player has been left tetraplegic after suffering a cardiac arrest on a night out due to his drink being spiked.
Daniel Cain, 23, was a fit and healthy footballer until a night out in June 2020 with friends took a tragic turn.
Daniel's friends noticed something was wrong when he was not responding during the evening.
They called an ambulance and attempted to perform CPR on him as they waited for paramedics to arrive.
Daniel's friends noticed something was wrong when he was not responding during the evening
GoFundMe
Paramedics got Daniel's heart beating again after working on the footballer for 24 minutes but his brain and spinal cord had been starved of oxygen.
Daniel's mother Tracey told the Independent: "When I found out I just went into automatic mum mode.
"I phoned his father who was at work and his sister came back from Essex.
"At around 3-4am in the morning, they tried to prepare us that he was not going to wake up but I said to keep trying.
"I wasn't going to accept he wasn't going to come around".
Now nearly three years later, Daniel's family are trying to raise funds for the 23-year-old to continue his rehabilitation.
Daniel's sister, Natalie has set up a GoFundMe page, detailing her brother's road to recovery.
She wrote: "My lovely baby brother, my only sibling, my Daniel. At 20 years of age, he was incredibly fit and healthy. He was an avid footballer and played for Comets, Hemel Aces and Hemel Town youth FC’S. He also played in the pre-academy development centres for Barnet FC and Arsenal FC.
"By trade, he is a qualified electrical service engineer. He worked on global and domestic projects:- from Google Offices in Germany to Cross Rail at Bond Street Station, London; Daniel was thriving in the early years of his career.
Daniel's family are trying to raise funds for the 23-year-old to continue his rehabilitation.
GoFundMe
"On June 9th, 2020, my successful, fun-loving, ever-smiling brother took a turn for the worst. What should've been a great gathering with his nearest and dearest turned into a life-changing travesty. His drink was spiked. My brother began suffering a cardiac arrest. His brain and spine were starved of oxygen causing devastating spinal cord injuries. He was in a coma for 25 days and we were told the dreadful news no family should ever have to hear - the diagnosis was he wouldn't survive or (if he was lucky) he would survive with brain damage. Daniel awoke and was tetraplegic.
"After 2.5 years in 5 different hospitals, Daniel battled through every eventuality, and he finally returned home in December 2022. He is confined to a wheelchair and relies on 24-hour care. He has restricted movement of his upper body. He is totally dependent, needing to be hoisted in and out of bed and taken to the bathroom.
"At 23 years of age, Daniel is not giving up. He has the opportunity to regain the full use of his legs, to stand and walk once again, and to achieve total independence via an organisation called Neurokinex, in Hemel Hempstead, near his home. This will involve a lot of intensive and expensive rehabilitation therapy, but we are determined to help Daniel thrive once again."
She continued: "He has completed his six NHS-funded sessions (one session weekly from 16 Jan'23 to 20 Feb'23) and now a comprehensive rehabilitation program is being compiled by the trainers. This will range from approximately, a minimum of 4 sessions a week initially (whilst Daniel continues to build his strength) to a max of 8 sessions per week - costing from £1,008 to £2,016 per month (£12,096 to £24,192 per annum). He now requires funds so he can continue his rehabilitation."
