Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has returned to training with the club after suffering a heart attack in December.
The defender's heart had stopped for more than two-and-a-half minutes during a Premier League match at Bournemouth, seven months after he collapsed at Wembley during the Championship play-off final victory against Coventry City.
The Bournemouth game was abandoned following the events, and Lockyer, 29, had said at the end of last season that he was 'at peace' with retirement should doctors tell him to quit following his cardiac arrest.
But a return to the game hasn't been ruled out, with the club skipper now back on the grass at Luton's training ground at The Brache to start the next phase of his rehabilitation.
He was seen running in pictures shared to the club website on Tuesday, with the Hatters welcoming him back in a statement released online.
Tom Lockyer has returned to training with Luton eight months after suffering a cardiac arrest during a Premier League game
The club have said he will train individually at their base as he steps up his rehabilitation
Lockyer's heart stopped for more than two-and-a-half minutes against Bournemouth in December
'We are so pleased to be able to inform our supporters and everyone around the world who has sent him their support that our captain, Tom Lockyer, has today returned to The Brache to start the next phase of his rehabilitation,' the statement read.
'Tom has been under the guidance and care of leading consultants in London and Amsterdam, where he has been completing the most recent phase of his rehabilitation at a specialist clinic.
'For now, Tom will work individually back at The Brache, but his very presence around the training ground will be welcomed by all of his team-mates, manager Rob Edwards and the coaching staff.
'While continuing his rehab, Tom will continue his work with the British Heart Foundation in spreading the importance of knowing CPR and how to use a defibrillator, and he will now be focussing fully on his next stage of the rehabilitation.
'We ask that he is allowed to do this at his own pace, in private, to ultimately give himself the best chance of completing the next phases of his rehabilitation program. Welcome back, Locks!'
Lockyer was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) to regulate his abnormal heart rhythm and is eyeing up a return to the sport, The Sun have claimed.
It is said that Lockyer has visited Professor Sanjay Shah, a cardiologist based in London who helped Christian Eriksen return after his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020.
Manchester United midfielder Eriksen, who collapsed while playing for Denmark in June 2021, was also fitted with an ICD and missed nine months of action.
The game was abandoned, with Lockyer collapsing at Wembley during the Championship play-off final seven months prior
He has admitted that a decision on whether he will be able to play again is out of his hands
In May, Lockyer admitted a decision over whether he can play again will be out of his hands. He said: 'At any stage, the cardiologist could say you can't play again.
'I am at peace with that though if that is to happen. I'd just look at it as a positive that I am still here, not that I can't play again.
'A decision is out of my hands. I would love to play again, I've made no secret in saying that but it would have to be done safely.
'I feel safer than I've ever felt before. I've got a defibrillator in my side. Ultimately the decision is not with me.
'I'm incredibly fortunate to have had a 10-year career that saw me play in every league, non-League, to the Premier League and scored in every one.
'I've got 14 caps for Wales, too. It's more than I ever thought.'
Reflecting on his cardiac arrest while on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Lockyer vividly recalled believing he could die before medics saved his life.
He said: 'There was no doubt this time and I kind of knew as well which is why when I started coming round and I couldn't move or speak, the staff there on site were more in "go-mode". They were focused and it was very serious.
'That's when I was like, "wow, I could be dying". Obviously when you're lying there and you can't speak and can't move, it's not a nice feeling to have.
'But when I could move and speak, I felt fine, which is the mad thing. I wasn't in any sort of pain. My heart got back into rhythm thanks to the incredible medical staff.
'I'm so lucky it happened where it did because if it was to happen outside of hospital or a football pitch, the survival rate is only one in 10.'