On 21 November 2018, a live sports segment on a local television channel in Turkey’s Eskisehir province was cut short when reporter Sukru Oytan suddenly collapsed on air.
Video from the broadcast shows Oytan seated beside colleague Guven Sabaz before he leans forward, appears to struggle to breathe, and then falls from his chair to the floor. Sabaz moves toward him as the incident unfolds.
Local reports said Oytan suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was later reported to be in a stable condition.
The channel said Oytan had undergone a pacemaker procedure 10 days earlier because of arrhythmia. In its statement, the station said: “Our colleague Sukru Oytan had a pacemaker placed due to arrhythmia 10 days ago. Today during the programme he felt bad and fainted.”
The statement added that he was taken to hospital immediately and that doctors described his condition as stable. The channel also sent its best wishes to Oytan and his family.
The incident drew comparisons to another televised medical emergency involving former England manager Glenn Hoddle, who suffered a heart attack on October 27, 2018, after collapsing in a TV studio on his 61st birthday. Hoddle, a father of three, had just appeared on Robbie Savage’s live show at the BT Sport Studios in Stratford, East London, before being resuscitated by sound engineer Simon Daniels, who said his “natural instinct” from first aid training kicked in.
