May 9, 2025. Angel City hosted Utah Royals for a mere NWSL Matchday 8 clash at BMO Stadium. One way to remember this game is with a 2-0 win for the home side, with Christen Press scoring her momentous goal. But all of this was overshadowed by an incident that transpired just minutes before the end of this game, when ACFC star Savy King was forced off the pitch after collapsing in the middle of the game due to a heart attack.

Thankfully, this life-threatening incident had a positive ending, as the 20-year-old youngster was fine. Even days later, King herself shared a convincing update for her ardent fans, thanking the Angel City staff for saving her life. But one certainly doesn’t know the story completely, at least from the American defender’s POV.

Fortunately, King’s latest appearance on the RE—INC podcast, co-hosted by her teammate Christen Press alongside the veteran’s fiancé and retired forward Tobin Heath, saw her reveal some unheard details about that day. When asked how much she remembers about that day, the defender said, “It’s probably going to be a little bit short just because I don’t really remember a lot of what happened, which is so crazy.”

Savy said that even after watching the videos from that day, the youngster somehow couldn’t recollect the exact memory, only acknowledging that she did celebrate Press’ 66th-minute goal moments before collapsing in the 74th minute. She, however, was able to recall that her own mother had attended the game.

The former North Carolina Tar Heels alum even admitted clicking pictures with her parents in the tunnel, to mark Mother’s Day. But after that? “I remember virtually nothing,” King continued, “During the game, I just didn’t feel right. Something was off, but I never had any chest pain or anything like that. I don’t know if it was adrenaline or what, but I just felt like I was going to pass out.”

We recall that the entire soccer world was scared for King the moment she collapsed. Both the teams, visibly distraught tried their best to retain their composure, forming a prayer circle as King was being treated by the medical staff for 10 minutes.

Well, deep inside, Savy herself was scared of passing out, which is one of her “biggest fears.“ The Santa Monica native recalled that after standing up, she suddenly sat down, grabbing her calf. Interestingly, a lot of people thought that she was just cramping, but that wasn’t the case at all, as King did it only to distract herself from the feeling of almost fainting out. “That’s the last thing I remember,” added the former Bay FC star.

After that, the only memory Savy King has is of being in the ambulance, recalling how the paramedics were tapping her face and telling her to stay with them. An obvious yet crucial statement from the life-savers, especially in such stark moments of life and death. Surprisingly, it was after the surgery that she woke up.

A successful surgery kept her in the hospital for a couple of days. Though she later learned that her mom rode with her in the ambulance and stayed by her side every night—joined by her other mom, brother, and Angel City staff visiting—she doesn’t remember any of it. The only thing she recalls is waking up after surgery, looking around in total confusion, wondering, “What is going on?”

One can’t really blame her, considering she came face-to-face with what could have been the final moments of her life. Yet, despite that, Savy never truly considers the incident traumatic—at least not for herself!

Savy King found it hard to accept what exactly happened to her!

“It was a couple of days, I couldn’t process or believe what had happened,” added the Angel City star, insisting she never imagined something like that would happen to her, especially after knowing that all her life, she never had any medical issues or even a serious injury before. Practically, this was the very first tome she ever dealt with physically, that too, at such a young age. 

Though she acknowledged the incident must have been deeply traumatizing for those who witnessed it, for King it wasn’t as terrifying—mainly because she remembers so little of it. Then again, she did thank her family, teammates, and everyone for keeping her in their prayers, realizing how hard it must have been for them to watch.

But one has to understand that it was itself very hard for the King to understand the gravity of the situation, and mainly, how to act after so much had happened. “The toughest part for me was not being able to say anything at first because we didn’t know what was going on. Once I was able to talk about it, I felt a lot better. It was traumatizing, but not in the same way for me as it was for the people who saw everything and can actually remember it,” concluded King.

It’s interesting how ups and downs are always present in our lives—they’re simply part of it. Perhaps the only lesson to take away is to enjoy every moment out there…isn’t it right? What is your take on the incident? Let us know in the comments.