Sitting up and smiling, Muamba’s first picture

Footballer Fabrice Muamba has been pictured for the first time since collapsing on the pitch nearly two weeks ago.

In a message posted on Twitter by his girlfriend, Shauna, the Bolton Wanderers midfielder is shown sitting up in his hospital bed and smiling.

Muamba, 23, wearing a T-shirt and hooded top, is surrounded by medical equipment in the photograph, but shows no outward signs of his ordeal.

The picture is accompanied by the words: “Fab wanted me to post this pic for you all and to also say thank you for such overwhelming support.” He is being treated at the London Chest Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during the first half of an FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane stadium.

The last message Muamba wrote on Twitter himself was on 17 March, the day of his collapse, when he said: “Just reach White Hart Lane”.

lA student who mocked Fabrice Muamba on Twitter lost his appeal against a 56-day jail term yesterday. Liam Stacey, 21, of Pontypridd, south Wales, sobbed as he was taken away following the failed sentence appeal hearing at Swansea Crown Court.