LUTON Town boss Rob Edwards described the “emotional” moment Tom Lockyer met with the paramedics who saved his life at Vitality Stadium.

In December, Luton player Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest during a Premier League clash with Cherries, which was abandoned after he received medical treatment and was taken to hospital.

The 29-year-old is thankfully now on the mend having undergone surgery, and returned to Bournemouth on Wednesday evening, for the rearranged fixture.

The Wales international, along with the medical team from the day, was presented to the fans ahead of kick-off to a rousing reception from all four sides of the ground.

Cherries also featured Lockyer on the front of their matchday programme, while a minute’s applause took place on 59 minutes, the point at which Lockyer collapsed during the original fixture.

Discussing Lockyer’s return to Vitality Stadium and asked if he found it hard to then concentrate on the match which followed, Hatters boss Edwards said: “Once the whistle went and the game started, I was in work mode and able to concentrate fine, it wasn’t an issue.

“Seeing Tom speaking to the paramedics, the people who saved his life at the beginning in the tunnel area, that was a bit emotional for me. But really nice as well.

“He is here because of those heroic people and what they did.

“He is able to hold his newborn baby now because of them and what he did.

“Sometimes I come out here and talk about football when it was literally life and death last time we were here.

“Sometimes it is important to have a little bit of realism as well.

“I know football is so important to all of us, it’s really important to me and it means a lot to me as well, but that maybe brings home a little bit of okay, what really is important here.”

Cherries trailed 3-0 at half-time, before coming back to win 4-3 in an all-time Premier League classic.

Asked about the club’s handling of the Lockyer situation on Wednesday, Cherries boss Andoni Iraola said: “I was lucky, I could talk to him before the game in the tunnel.

“I am really happy, because he is doing really well.

“He was optimistic. He is feeling much better now with the baby and other things in his head.

“That was the most important thing of the day.”

Cherries travel to Bedfordshire to face Luton in the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, April 6 (3pm).