The ongoing ESPN Summer Soccer Series of European clubs’ exhibition matches continued Sunday night with Real Madrid facing AC Milan at the Rose Bowl, and that ESPN/ESPN+ broadcast had a scary moment before the match even started. While setting up the match with host Dan Thomas on the sidelines, analyst Shaka Hislop collapsed and fell face-first. That led to Thomas calling for medics, and to ESPN going to commercial. And it understandably prompted a lot of concern for him.
When it got to the actual match, commentator Adrian Healey said on-air that “He has recovered. I didn’t see the incident … but I’m sure it was an alarming one. We’ve been told in definitive terms that he is okay.” And Thomas posted a Twitter update 15 minutes into the match that Hislop was conscious and receiving medical attention:
Shaka is conscious. The medics are looking after him.
— Dan Thomas (@DanThomasESPN) July 24, 2023
At halftime, Thomas offered a more comprehensive on-air update:
Host Dan Thomas gives an encouraging update on longtime ESPN analyst Shaka Hislop, who passed out live on-air during AC Milan-Real Madrid pregame coverage. pic.twitter.com/3y256pu6W2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 24, 2023
“Halftime here at the Rose Bowl, it’s AC Milan 2, Real Madrid 0, but that of course secondary to what happened ahead of the game. Obviously, my mate Shaka not here, but as it stands, it’s good news. He’s conscious, he’s talking. I think he’s a little embarrassed about it all. He’s apologized profusely. Not a man who likes people to make a fuss of him.”
“Obviously, far too early to make any sort of diagnosis. But the important thing is that Shaka’s conscious. And we spoke to his family as well, because you can imagine seeing that happen live, there can’t be many more things that can scare you amongst the family. But fortunately, we spoke to his wife and things are looking okay.”
That is certainly a positive update, and it’s good to hear that Hislop was doing well at that point. Our best wishes go out to him and his family as he recovers.
[CNN]
