Kanu Nwankwo reveals how his wife saved his life hearing his heartbeat

Footballer Nwankwo Kanu has revealed how his wife Amara saved his life and then nursed him back to health. The Arsenal legend who had open heart surgery in 1996 said early detection by his wife helped avert what might have been a tragedy.

One night, after their three children were in bed and the couple were enjoying the peace and quiet as they prepared to go to bed, Amara was listening to the former striker's heartbeat and noticed something unusual so she encouraged him to get it checked immediately. Considering that more than a decade earlier, Kanu had needed lifesaving open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with a heart valve defect, he took her advice and it led to the discovery that indeed all was not well, so treatment began immediately.

She recalls: “His heartbeat sounded much louder than normal. I was listening to his chest and it sounded odd.”

Kanu says: “She was saying I should go for a check-up so I took her advice.”

The result of the test showed that Kanu had further damage to his heart and he urgently needed a second operation.

“It was the same faulty valve,” she says. “It was like a ticking time bomb. It’s just one of those things we were lucky to find out.”

Daily Mirror reports that Kanu credits Amara with saving his life and nursing him back to health.