Savy King was in the middle of a normal match day when her heart suddenly stopped! On May 9, 2025, during an NWSL match for Angel City FC against the Utah Royals, the 21-year-old collapsed to the pitch in the 74th minute. Soon after, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition and underwent emergency open-heart surgery. Ten months later, King made her return to competitive football. And now, she has revealed how the surgery and the moments that followed completely changed her life.

On June 26, Savy King appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show, dressed in a black sleeveless top with a V-shaped neckline. The surgical scar from her open-heart procedure was still visible. In that conversation, she opened up about the moments she barely remembers and the ones that still stay with her.

“I remember the medical staff running onto the field, and I think as that was happening, I went unconscious,” she said. “After that I don’t really remember anything that happened, but they performed CPR on me, which saved my life. They didn’t have to put on the AED because I started to have a heartbeat again after they performed CPR.”

She described the ambulance ride as one of the few clear fragments from that day. A paramedic tapped her face, urging her to stay awake, while her mother stayed by her side during the emergency transfer. Upon arriving at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, doctors began performing urgent tests to determine the cause of a healthy young athlete’s collapse.

King had never had any health problems before, so the diagnosis came as a surprise. After some time, tests revealed the seriousness of her condition, and she was told she needed emergency open-heart surgery.

Despite everything, her focus has slowly returned to football. Not just the competition, but the feeling of it. “I’m mostly just looking forward to playing soccer again,” she said. “It feels like I have a newfound love for it… It means something deeper now than just sports. I’m excited to play in front of all the people that saw what happened to me… I’ve been working hard in my recovery, and I want to show that.”

Once she recovered, King launched the Savy King of Hearts Foundation with the mission to increase awareness, early screening and CPR education for heart health. So far, the initiative has advocated for broader CPR training in professional settings such as NWSL teams to increase awareness of emergencies both on and off the pitch. However, her story didn’t start with the medical emergency.

Savy King’s return left the NWSL in shock

Savy King started her career years ago in California, where she was raised in a sports-oriented family. Her mother, Karrie King, and father, Kim Parker King, supported her early passion for athletics. As a child, she played multiple sports, including soccer, track, softball, and flag football. Track stood out in particular, where she set school records in the 200m and 400m events during high school.

Soccer eventually took over as her primary career. She played for elite youth teams like Real So Cal and Slammers FC, having helped secure a 2023 ECNL National Championship. The climb catapulted her into the most highly rated young defenders in the country. She was drafted by Bay FC 2nd overall in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

In 2025, she was traded to her hometown team, Angel City FC in Los Angeles. The relocation was looked upon as a big step towards her family and in a bigger frame of fame. Her career was suddenly interrupted, however, shortly thereafter, as she collapsed on the field and subsequently had open heart surgery.

Months of recovery followed before her emotional return in March 2026, when she came on as a substitute for Angel City FC in a 4-0 win over Chicago Stars FC. She entered in the 63rd minute to a strong ovation at BMO Stadium and played for over 30 minutes in total. “I was super nervous, honestly,” she said after the game. “But when I got on the pitch I was thinking, ‘I’ve been here before and I’m ready for this.”