“Don’t want to play with my life”
After cardiac arrest: Ex-Bundesliga professional ends career
09/26/2025 – 1:17 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Two years after a dramatic incident on the field, Bas Dost draws a line. His health has priority for him.
The former Bundesliga striker Bas Dost gave up all the comeback attempts two years after his cardiac arrest on the square and ended his career. “I don’t want to play with my life. I thought about it for two weeks and then made the decision,” said the 36-year-old in a report by the Dutch daily “Algemeen Dagblad”.
On October 29, 2023, Dost collapsed with AZ Alkmaar during a game of his then club Nec Nijmegen. He had to be revived on the square. Waking up and saying that his heart had stopped was “a shock,” he reported. “You don’t want to stop football like this. You want to decide for yourself. It is unfortunate that I couldn’t do that.”
At Dost, heart muscle inflammation was found, which had run over a year and a half. A return to everyday life was difficult: he couldn’t even play with his son in the garden – too dangerous. “It was terrible,” said Dost.
The Dutch had hoped to be able to return to the square. He tried a sporty comeback until he was again informed of health abnormalities. Then he pulled the ripcord: “I don’t want that.”
In the meantime, Dost has reorganized professionally. He operates a company that invests in start-ups and rented out apartments in Spain. He can imagine a return to football in the future, but in a different function.