DURING the big FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham, one of those events occurred which just aren’t meant to happen.

Fabrice Muamba of Bolton Wanderers, probably one of the strongest, fittest young men in the country, fell to the ground and his heart stopped.

Only the brilliant work of doctors and physios saved his life.

It seems he’s on the road to recovery, which is great news, but doesn’t it make you think?

As humans we really are very weak and fragile. During my 16 years as a pro footballer I broke my nose twice, had four cartilage operations, two medial ligament ops, a hernia and three broken bones in my foot.

I was lucky all my ailments were things that could be fixed, but it could have been so different if the injury gods hadn’t smiled on me.

At any moment my career – and hence my life – could have changed in an instant and there is nothing I could have done about it.

As a pro, I pretty much knew what I had to do to look after myself, but what about the normal person who has to make their own choices.

We are more informed than ever about the choices we should make to help push the life odds in our favour – to keep us fit and healthy.

The media tell us what we should and shouldn’t eat, how much exercise we should take, in fact everything is a google search away from enlightening us.

So why do we still make so many bad choices?

My mum died at 60 from a heart attack. She smoked all her life, always emptied the salt out on her dinner and suffered accordingly – but she didn’t know of the harm she was doing.

My grandma died at 100 and had the worst diet imaginable. It really is all in the lap of the gods, but we can help ourselves.

I spent all last week at Cheltenham watching the brilliant racing, but at the end of each day the level of drunkenness was quite alarming.

Now I like a drink, but I also like to know who I am and be able to walk home at the end of the night.

Particularly when we’re young, we take liberties with our health and, as we get older, we tend to calm down a bit.

I know in my working life I am living in the world of odds and chance, that outsiders do come in.

Muamba was several million to one to suffer a heart attack that night – as these things happen on very rare occasions – but generally it’s down to us. We can help ourselves.

When I worked at Town, I introduced a health page to the matchday programme and got a nutritionist in to educate fans.

People thought I was mad, and I probably was, but small changes can make such a difference.

I hate to sound like I’m preaching to people, as I for one hate being told what to do, but be healthy – it can’t do you any harm!

THEY say in life never ‘burn your bridges’.

Well I have to say I thought Carlos Tevez would never play for Manchester City again.

However, if City go on to win the Premier League then the decision to bring him back will be applauded and celebrated in the blue half of Manchester – and also by people who backed them to win the title (guess who that is?).

Even if you think of him as an overpaid, arrogant, self-indulgent individual who you wouldn’t give the time of day to, if by Mancini swallowing his pride City go on to win the title then the Italian manager will get all the plaudits he deserves.

City showed great resolve in coming from behind to beat Chelsea the other night, and they will need more of that to hold off United’s surge for another crown.

LAST week, on my way to Cheltenham, I had a very pleasant surprise.

A call from Town’s Andy Booth inviting me over to meet the supporters and to spend the day at the Scunthorpe match on Saturday, April 21.

I’ve not been back to Town since I left 12 years ago, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Let’s hope by mid-April we can still be positively talking about the automatic promotion places.