Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/275833
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2014 News 5 Footballer's life-saving cardiologist backs cycling marathon with the help of a senior steward, I ran off to the pitch to see whether my help was needed," the cardiolo- gist recounts to MaltaToday. He says that with the commotion he could hardly remember what went through his mind on the pitch but says that he only got involved after the 23-year old midfielder left the pitch. In the ambulance, Deaner took the courageous decision to take Fab- rice Muamba to the London Chest Hospital where he worked, instead of another hospital that was much nearer. Although further away, Deaner knew that his hospital was much better equipped to deal with these cases than any other. "It wasn't a difficult decision. Both the paramedics of the London am- bulance and I were thinking along the same lines. There were enough people in the ambulance to carry on resuscitation until we got there," Deaner explains, who adds that al- though it was a complex situation no one ever criticised this decision. Fabrice Muamba, who emerged from the youth ranks of Arsenal and also played for the England U-21 side, became conscious only after 36 hours. Deaner says he was impressed with his recovery and how he retrieved his speaking abil- ity instantly. "When he came round I asked him his name and he answered accord- ingly. I then whispered in his ear that I heard he was a good player, and with a smile on his face, he told me that he tries to be one. It was close to a miracle but I don't believe in such things. What happened was the result of really good planning, training and the effect of appropri- ate treatment," Deaner says. Five months after the incident, Fabrice Muamba retired from pro- fessional football following medi- cal advice. He made more than 200 appearances for Birmingham City and Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, scoring five goals in the process. The leading cardiologist under- lines that sadly, similar cases occur relatively frequently in the United Kingdom, with around 400-600 young adults being affected annual- ly. In Malta, this amounts to roughly 10 healthy young adults per year. This is one of the reasons why Deaner was brought to Malta to support the Cycling Marathon tak- ing place this weekend, which aims to create awareness about CPR among students and teachers, and raise funds to acquire a defibrillator for every school. "This is a very important initiative. Since Malta is a very small coun- try, it is in a position to completely change the way one can prepare for similar cases. Education such as how to give CPR, as well as defibril- lators within reachable distance can increase the survival rate of those affected by 50%," Deaner said. This year's cycling marathon will aim to create more awareness about heart-related issues. Life-saving equipment such as Automated Ex- ternal Defibrillators (AEDs) will be donated to schools intended to help in scenarios of heart failures. jpiscopo@mediatoday.com.mt Cardiologist Andrew Deaner, at far right right, leading the way for Muamba's emergency departure from stadium to hospital after a cardiac arrest Parliament should scrutinise people appointed in public positions lice's work," the Opposition lead- er said, accusing Commissioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit of being "a puppet in the hands of the government". Busuttil also said that parlia- mentary declarations by certain Labour MPs and ministers were "false", and accused Muscat's government of displaying utter disregard for the value of trans- parency. "He hides on simple matters. Twice I asked him to publish the contract with Henley & Partners, and information on salaries be- ing paid to public officials is be- ing withheld." In a terse statement, the Labour part y accused Simon Busuttil of being destructive and having no vision. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD €320 million share transfer at Enemalta PAGE 1 During the parliamentary debate, the Opposition repeatedly asked whether the transaction meant that Shanghai Electric Power had ef- fectively bought the BWSC plant and whether government had agreed on the rate with which the electricity would be bought. Avoiding the question, Mizzi said the current average electricity cost was "phenomenal" and the invest- ment would reduce this cost: "Shang- hai Electric Power will procure a stake, pay off the debt and the con- vert the plant. While the generation price from the BWSC plant will drop, the cheapest supply of electricity will be by Electrogas." The electricity base load will be from the Electrogas plant, while the rest will be divided between the BWSC plant and the interconnector. Mizzi said the government could eas- ily switch to the interconnector if the gas supply becomes cheaper. The minister argued that with the five-year gas supply agreement, Mal- ta was at an advantage: "We know the price and we have price certainty." He reiterated that Enemalta will retain the dispatch rights – which energy supply to go for. Two other projects by Shanghai Power Electric and the Maltese gov- ernment will include a joint-venture to produce 300MW of renewable energy distributed into Europe, of which 100MW will be through pho- tovoltaic panels and 200MW gener- ated from wind energy. The company will be 70% owned by Shanghai Power Electric and 30% owned by the Maltese government. The other investment will be an- other joint venture, this time 70% owned by the Maltese government, to service power plants owned by Shanghai Power Electric in Europe. Nationalist MPs George Pullicino and Tonio Fenech urged the minister to table the deal in parliament, not- ing that the memorandum of under- standing signed in September had not yet been tabled. Pullicino also asked whether the government was "comfortable" with privatising Enemalta. Fenech, a former finance minister, also noted the discrepancy between the memorandum of understanding and agreement signed today: "It was said before that 20% of the corpora- tion would be sold for about €200 million. Now, it's a total of €320 mil- lion, which begs the question: why are a number of shares being sold at about half price than the previous price-per-share ratio?"