YOU don’t need to be in the football family to identify with the life and death struggle of Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba on Saturday night, just beautifully human.  

Weird as this sounds, walking away from the Lane, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of triumph for the human spirit: it proved moments like this can really change the world. For the last five days people from all walks of life have been on the edge of their seats waiting for news of this 23-year-old.

People have been affected because they witnessed his struggle.

Somehow we have become desensitised to the countless images seen in the media of wars, famines and dispossessed families.

But seeing this tragic event unfold in real time we were forced to acknowledge the suffering of another and the public worldwide outpouring has been nothing short of spectacular.

The fans on Saturday were tremendous.

At no stage were they impatient or disrespectful, just concerned. I for one will never forget the moment the crowd fell silent and as the defibrillator was used, sang in unison trying to raise him literally from the dead.

Well people, it looks like we’ve done that. I’ve always advocated community and this was it in its truest form because everyone that was there that night and the millions who witnessed it on TV, realise that if we all truly hope and pray for the same thing, it’s possible it might just happen.

• Follow the New Journal’s Spurs news on Twitter@CNJSpursFC