Former footballer Fabrice Muamba has helped launch a campaign for more defibrillators just over two years since he suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest.

The retired midfielder collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane as Tottenham played Bolton in March 2012.

His heart stopped for more than one hour but, thanks to the help of a defibrillator, which delivers electric shocks to re-start the heart, he was miraculously resuscitated.

Now, the 26-year-old is backing the London Ambulance Service’s campaign to have an extra 1,000 defibrillators in shops, businesses and gyms across London.

He helped launch the campaign alongside a Tottenham Hotspur paramedic Pete Fisher, who helped save his life.

Muamba said: “I was lucky I had my cardiac arrest in the right place with the best medics around to help me. I want everyone who goes into cardiac arrest to have the same chance as me.”