Team GB staff save Uzbekistan boxing coach's life after cardiac arrest at Olympics

Two members of Team GB's support staff at the Olympics helped save the life of Uzbekistan's boxing head coach. Harj Singh, a doctor, and physio Robbie Lillis rushed to the aid of Tulkin Kilichev in the warm-up area at Roland Garros on Thursday night.

Kilichev was celebrating a gold medal for Uzbek boxer Hasanboy Dusmatov when he suffered a cardiac arrest, sparking panic in the arena. Luckily for him, Singh and Lillis were stationed nearby and dropped everything to provide CPR and administer life-saving treatment using a defibrillator.

Singh and Lillis handed over to the medical team from the venue when they arrived on the scene a few minutes later. Kilichev survived the ordeal as a result of their heroic contributions and was quickly taken to hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.

Lillis, who has previously worked as a physio for the Exeter Chiefs and the Huddersfield Giants, told the PA news agency: "The [Uzbek] coaching team came back into the warm-up area and they were all celebrating, and then shouting came from that area that wasn’t celebrations at all.

"There was a cry for a doctor, for help. Harj was the first person who responded and I followed with the emergency trauma bag that we carry with us. When I arrived about 30 seconds after Harj, he had already started performing CPR on the coach.

"Quite a lot of coaches were pretty visibly distressed around the whole situation, so it took us a moment to clear all of them out of the way. I opened up the trauma bag, got the defib out, got the pads on him as quickly as possible. Once that analysed his heart rhythm, it said a shock was advised so we cleared everybody away and gave him a shock.

"Initially he didn’t come back but, about 20 to 30 seconds later, after Harj continued doing CPR, all of a sudden he came back conscious with us, which was great. I'm obviously grateful to be able to play a part in hopefully helping someone to survive."

Lillis added that he did not get a wink of sleep on Thursday night as he struggled to wrap his head around the frightening incident. Singh, who has more experience in dealing with cardiac arrests, expressed hope that he and Lillis would be able to see Kilichev in hospital when he is well enough to be visited.

"It puts things into perspective," he said. "Everything happened so quickly. At some stage we will endeavour to go to the hospital. If it could be arranged, I think that would be quite emotional for both of us."