Legend Stuart Pearce of England has praised medical staff for 'restarting' of his heart and saving his life after a medical emergency on a flight from Las Vegas earlier this month.
The 62-year-old was unwell back to London on March 2 after he attended the Rugby League match in Las Vegas between Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves.
The Virgin plane made an emergency landing in Newfoundland after Pearce fell ill on board.
The former left back has made a recovery and was even on comment tasks for the 2-0 victory of England on Albania on Friday evening.
In an interview with The Times Pearce said: 'My heart raced a bit. The medical staff on the plane was beautiful and they made the decision after three hours to drop me off in St. John's in Newfoundland.
'The hospital staff there actually stopped my heart and recovered again to bring it back into a normal rhythm.
'I had five days and five days in a hotel waiting for medical care to be organized, so actually an extra ten -day vacation. They think it was caused by a virus. '
It is thought that the aircraft was 30,000 feet when his illness caused a change of planning.
A source told the sun that Pearce seemed to be uncomfortable during the flight and deteriorated his condition while it continued.
On Monday, March 10, it was revealed that Pearce had left the hospital and the next day he shared an update live on Talksport.
'Absolutely brilliant. I went to meet my maker last week and it was not God, it was actually Lord Jordan sat in his chair that I was going to meet, but he said that you were not on a big guy and sent me away, “he joked.
'But in all seriousness, I am in good shape. During the flight I had a chest pain and things like that, the crew on a virgin was brilliant, took care of me and only said: “Look, we're not going to fly the chance about the Atlantic, we're going to drop you off.”
'Five days in the hospital, a few days from the hospital were here, the only down side is that our bags went to London and the only thing we remained was actually the autobiography of Martin Keown!
'I can't speak high enough, I have had some brilliant messages from people, I was lucky to watch a few games. I thought the forest match against Man City was very humiliating. I saw that and all the pieces and pieces from which came from. '
Forest -fans and fans of Man City recently sent applause in the form of a minute at the start of their match, with supporters who sing 'psycho, psycho' – Pearce's iconic nickname – in the third minute.
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