‘I didn’t think I’d make it – Stuart Pearce recalls harrowing brush with death as partner thought ‘he’d pegged it’

STUART PEARCE didn't think he would “make it” and his partner believed “he'd pegged it” during his horrendous aeroplane health scare.

The ex-England defender, 62, needed his heart restarting after his horror scare at 30,000ft.

SunSport revealed the football legend fell ill during a flight from Las Vegas to Heathrow.

Pearce needed emergency medical treatment on the plane from first aiders and the flight was diverted to Newfoundland, Canada so he could be taken to hospital, where he was kept in for eight days.

He has made a full recovery from the virus that affected his heart and returned to talkSPORT commentary duties for England's win over Albania last Friday.

And now he has appeared on This Morning to relive his ordeal – and be reunited with the woman who helped save his life.

Pearce said: “At the airport my chest felt a little bit tight, a little heavy.

“It felt like someone was sat on my chest and tried to sleep it off.

“But after a couple of hours, and I should have picked my wording better, I said to Carol, ‘I don't think I'm going to make Heathrow.'

“I meant without telling the cabin crew. Carol thought, ‘He's pegged it. He's done.'

“I was in and out of consciousness. I can't speak highly enough of the crew. I thought an aeroplane was the worst place in the world to fall ill.

“We can only as a pair say thank you very much. The professionalism was brilliant.”

Pearce started wincing in pain in the economy section on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamline during the Virgin Atlantic Flight VS156 after attending the rugby league clash between Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors in Vegas.

His wife Carol was alongside him during the worrying scenes as staff checked on him, gave him oxygen and hooked him up to an ECG machine.

The cabin crew was in constant contact with a doctor, who monitored the readings on the ground.

His resting heart rate was 155bpm and before flying for hours over sea, it was decided to land the plane in Newfoundland so he could receive specialist treatment.

Pearce watched Forest's 1-0 win over Manchester City from the hospital, including the fans' tribute for him at the City Ground.

The remaining 225 passengers arrived at Heathrow six hours later than scheduled – but Carol was scared her man would never make it back home.

Sat alongside Pearce in the ITV studio, she said: “It was very unusual [for him to make a fuss about his health].

“Other than man flu which is clearly a huge deal, for him to say he was in pain, that immediately made my blood run cold because you think this is serious.

“Stuart doesn't do being ill, doesn't do pain.

“He once played with a broken leg.”

Zoe Anderson was leading the cabin crew on the Virgin flight and kept her composure to ensure Pearce got the help he needed.

That even included giving them a care package with blankets as they got off the plane as the temperature in Canada was -11C – compared to 23C in Las Vegas.

Stuart and Carol were joined by Anderson live on ITV as the Virgin staff member recalled the decision-making process in the air.

Anderson said: “We are trained to deal with these situations – we are prepared. I did an initial assessment.

“He said his pain was an eight out of ten so that rang some alarm bells.

“We took a few different readings and they were all abnormal so we didn't want to be over the Atlantic.”