Tragedy as footballer, 33, died after collapsing on pitch without ever meeting unborn baby
A DAD-to-be footballer collapsed and died during a match without ever meeting his unborn baby, an inquest heard.
Mitchell Joseph, 33, had been told it was safe to play football after he underwent a heart operation.
But the defender collapsed just 30 minutes into the match in Swansea as medics desperately tried to revive him.
Tragically, Mitchell couldn’t be saved and died two hours later in hospital as his pregnant fiancee Laura Davies rushed to his side.
In an emotional statement at his inquest, she said: “I have lost out on my partner and him being a father to our baby.”
The court was told carpenter Mitchell had surgery to fix a valve in his heart in May 2017 after he suffered a fall at work.
Doctors told him he could “get on with his life” – including returning to the sport he loved.
Just weeks after the op, Mitchell rode from Swansea to Paris for a charity bike ride and returned to playing football.
In January 2018, he was playing for St Joseph’s AFC in Swansea against Maltsters Sports when he collapsed.
His mum Beverley Stephens said: “Mitchell took advice from the doctors and now he is gone.
“We want to answer his daughter’s questions: ‘Why is my daddy not here?’
“He went for a game of football with his mates, happy and healthy, and did not come home.”
Doctors told the hearing Mitchell, who was planning to marry Laura in Ibiza, was right to have the operation – even though his heart deteriorated.
Cardiologist Dr Clive Weston said there was evidence the organ was not pumping “as vigorously” as it should have done.
But he explained all exercise is “good for a person” and that Mitchell was back on his bike just two months after the surgery.
Coroner Colin Phillips said: “The main concern is how his condition was managed from the outset.
“He is a young man and sport was his lifestyle choice. What advice was given to him?”
The inquest, set to last three days, continues.