The medical team who saved the life of footballer Fabrice Muamba were presented with a national life saving award last night.

The members of the Tottenham Hotspur medical team, and the team from the Bolton Wanders, were given the prestigious Heart Safe Life Saver of the Year award at a ceremony in Manchester.

The ceremony was for the UK Heart Safe Awards organised by the charity Hand on Heart which works to reduce the deaths of young people due to sudden cardiac arrest.

Head of medical services for Tottenham Hotspur Wayne Diesel said: “We are so grateful and so humbled by this award.

“I certainly am just hoping that the awareness that we’ve created around the world by using a simple defibrillator and having paramedics onsite is testament to what can be done and that it does work and that it is worthwhile.”

In March this year the Bolton midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch of White Hart Lane at FA Cup Quarter final.

The medical teams from Tottenham and Bolton performed resuscitation for almost an hour on the pitch saving his life.

Since the game in March, Muamba has made a full recovery but last month announced he was retiring from football on advice from his doctor.