A French rugby star says he suffered a cardiac arrest after taking the tobacco product snus.
Hassane Kolingar told the French sports newspaper Midi Olympique about his experience using the powdered tobacco product while attending a wedding for Racing 92 teammate Ibrahim Diallo.
Originating in Sweden, Snus is taken by placing the patch behind the upper lip, where the nicotine is absorbed into the body.
“When I got there, I stuck a snus against my gum and sat down while waiting for the bride and groom," the prop said.
He said things started going wrong when he burst out laughing, and "immediately felt pressure in my chest".
"My heart was beating really hard, and I was sweating a lot, seeing stars.
“I thought I was just having a hypoglycaemic episode and, so I would not ruin the ceremony, I moved aside.
"My eardrums were banging, I felt like someone was sticking needles in my head.
“I was in pain, really bad pain and my eyes were rolling back. I was going into cardiac arrest.”
Kolingar said he had suffered tachycardia, which is when the heart rate increases, and later had surgery to clear a scar on his heart.
"Because my pulse wouldn’t go down, the firefighters put me into a coma. To wake me up, they shocked me four times.
“The purpose of the operation was to clean the scar I had on my heart since birth.
"To do that, [the surgeon] had to trigger a new cardiac arrest.”
Kolingar returned to action in December following the health scare.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, smokeless tobacco can lead to nicotine addiction, cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, and pancreas, mouth diseases like leukoplakia, cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, or larynx, increased risks of early delivery or stillbirth if taken during pregnancy, and can increase the risk of death from heart disease and stroke.
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