Angel City guard Savi King returns to Los Angeles for her first regular season game Sunday night at BMO Stadium since her heart attack May 9, 2025.
The 21-year-old was substituted in the 63rd minute by the thundering home fans, who had already held a 3-0 advantage over the visiting Chicago Stars to finish 4-0. King even scored on goal in his 27 minutes on the court.
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King collapsed on the same field 10 months ago during a game against the Utah Royals, in part due to an undetected congenital heart abnormality. She was rushed to hospital and quickly underwent successful surgery, followed by a lengthy recovery process. Controversially, the league authorized the game to go ahead, a decision that drew swift and sharp criticism from the NWSL Players Association, who urged the league to change its protocols and order the game to be abandoned in the event of a life-saving medical incident.
On February 14 of this year, the Angel City removed King from the season-ending injury (SEI) list, and two days later, She returns to competition for the first time since she suffered a heart attack against Angeles City during the preseason Coachella Valley Invitational.
King was not to be missed against a shocking Chicago team on Sunday, switching places with U.S. Women’s National Team center back Emily Sams midway through the second half. She made the most of every minute, firing a shot that hit the crossbar and elicited a collective gasp from the Angel City supporters. However surprising it may be, considering her position as a defender, the moment was an emphatic statement about the kind of player she plans to be once she officially returns.
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At the postgame news conference in Angeles City, forward Kennedy Fuller called King “the sweetest, hardest-working person you’ll ever meet” and said her heart condition and absence from the game “really united the football community and we all realized there was so much more to this game than playing 90 minutes on the field.”
Fuller, who had a goal and an assist in the team’s victory, said that when she resumed team practice, King “came back and she was like, ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to be better than I was before. I’m going to be faster than I was before.'”
“I think it was a very emotional moment for her, to be able to see herself step out on the court and be confident – like, she didn’t miss a beat,” Fuller added.
King’s performance didn’t stop with the shot attempts. In the 80th minute, she also rushed towards her own goal and blocked Chicago Stars forward Jordyn Huitema’s shooting opportunity with a quick sliding tackle to keep Angel City’s clean sheet.
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“She could have played more today than she did,” Angel City head coach Alex Strauss said after the Gold State game. “Savi is ready and wants to start playing,” he added, noting that he will need to manage her minutes with Sams, whose time at the club has been sporadic recently due to international duties. He said both players were working hard to be fully fit within 90 minutes.
King’s incident last year, and the fallout from the NWSL’s handling of it, prompted the league to revise its protocols regarding serious injuries that occur during games. September 14, Louisville Athletic midfielder Savannah DeMelo collapses on pitch The league postponed the game midway through the game due to a known heart condition and rescheduled it for a later bye time.
Last week, the NWSL announced a formal change to its protocol, defining “serious injury” as “a condition that is severely incapacitating or poses an immediate and significant health risk to an individual, such as a heart attack or cardiac arrest, epileptic seizure, or severe traumatic physical injury (such as an open compound fracture or a spinal injury that may be paralyzing).”
In such circumstances, the League reserves the right to postpone or reschedule the game on a case-by-case basis, or to declare the game ultimately concluded if the game is played long enough.
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King herself has used her experience to advocate for change. She announced the founding of the nonprofit Savy King of Hearts in November to raise awareness of CPR and expand access to heart screenings. The organization has also partnered with the NWSL to provide CPR training to all 16 teams in the league.
Angel City’s next test will be down the California coast to San Jose to meet Bay FC, who also won their home opener on Saturday, March 21.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Angel City, NWSL, Women’s Soccer
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