Grandad says: Thanks for saving my life

HE RETURNS TO FOOTBALL CLUB WHERE HE WAS SAVED AFTER COLLAPSING

A COVENTRY grandad says he will be forever indebted to Bedworth United Football Club for literally saving his life.

Had it not been for the quick actions of members of the club and its walking football team Paul Feeney says he would not be around to share his remarkable story.

The Eastern Green resident, who collapsed on the pitch at The Oval while playing a walking football game, simply said: “I cannot put into words how thankful I am, I am indebted to all of the people at Bedworth.

“Without the people at Bedworth I would not be here, there aren’t enough words to say how grateful I am.

“Having met them and spoke to them, they said they didn’t really know what skills they had until they were put in the situation to use them, they said they all pulled together and that is incredible.”

The Birmingham Walking Football team player collapsed during a fund-raising match in aid of Prostate Cancer at the home of the Greenbacks on Friday, September 21.

Two members of the Bedworth walking football team as well the stadium manager put their life-saving skills into practice and used the club’s defibrillator to literally bring Mr Feeney back to life.

“I don’t really remember a lot, I remember turning into Bedworth United, I was really, really looking forward to taking part in the game for prostate cancer, but then I can’t remember a thing, it was almost as if I had been switched off,” the 61-year-old explained.

Unbeknown to him, the first aid and defibrillator trained Greenbacks members fought to save his life while West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics were enroute.

The former manager at the Coventry Chamber of Commerce was then taken to the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), where he underwent a triple heart bypass.

After spending more than ten days at UHCW, Mr Feeney was able to return home to his grateful family, including his wife Dawn.

Keen to thank those who saved his life, Mr and Mrs Feeney returned to the Oval the place where the drama happened and it proved to be an emotional day.

“I am really indebted to the club, without the skills of some of the people there, I would not be where I am today,” he said.

“It is not just the people who saved my life, it is whoever took the decision at the club to get a defibrillator, they also saved my life with that decision.

“It was strange to go there I don’t know anyone there but they all knew me. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me.

“It was okay for me, I didn’t know what was going on, it is my wife and kids who have had to deal with all of the trauma of it and the people who saved me.

“Until I spoke to them, I didn’t realise how traumatic it was for them and how touch and go it was for me.

“It just goes to show how important defibrillators are and how much of a different they can make, I know they are expensive, especially for small teams but you can’t put a cost on a life.”

IBy his own admission, Mr Feeney was fit, having played Saturday and Sunday football league all of his life, twice a week and then playing walking football for Birmingham for the past two years.

“It just goes to show that it can happen to anyone,” he added.

“I have spoken to the lads on the Birmingham team and told them to look after themselves because you never know.”

The famed family spirit among the walking football community has astounded the grandad: “I had well wishes from as far as New Zealand and Australia, I couldn’t believe it.”

He is now due to see a specialist on November 13 and then hopes to be able to go back to the gym to get fit again: “I would like to start playing football again in January,” he said.

Russ Watkin, one of the directors at Bedworth United and a member of the walking football team, said they were delighted to welcome Mr and Mrs Feeney along to their first county FA game on Sunday.

“We had kept in touch with them, they kept us updated when he was coming out of hospital and so we gave Paul and his wife an open invite to come back whenever they could,” he said.

“It was great to see them both, it was nice for our walking football team players and the ground manager, who saved his life.”

Mr Watkin said the football club has also been inundated with messages.

“It was quite remarkable the response we got back from it, the amount of lower league clubs who explained how they had just got a defib and how the story showed how important they are,” he said.