Basic first aid could have prevented the death of a teenager who had a heart attack while playing football in Bahrain, according to a senior doctor.

Elias Ali Jawad, 14, died yesterday (May 28) after 12 days at the BDF Hospital, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

He had collapsed during a game of football with friends in Sanabis on May 16, but it was only when BDF cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon Dr Habeeb Al Tareef arrived at the scene that efforts to revive him commenced.

However, despite Dr Al Tareef's best efforts, Elias was declared brain dead on arrival at the hospital and had been kept alive by machines in the intervening period.

His death has now prompted Dr Al Tareef to highlight the importance of learning simple, potentially lifesaving techniques such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

“I wish someone had given him a chest massage so that the oxygen supply to his brain would not have been cut off,” Dr Al Tareef told the GDN.

“But the people there had no such knowledge and they did the best they could by reaching out to a doctor.

“He (Elias) was resuscitated almost 15 to 20 minutes after he had collapsed, during which time the oxygen supply to brain was cut off.”

Dr Al Tareef lives in the neighbourhood and was called to the scene by Elias' friends when he collapsed.

“When I reached there, it was almost 20 minutes after the incident and there was no pulse or heartbeat,” he said.

“I gave him CPR and revived his heart.

“His heart was in perfect condition and needed no medication, only his brain was dead and there is no cure or medicine for this.” - TradeArabia News Service