Amateur Inverness goalkeeper who suffered heart attack on Skye pitch feels he has been given a second chance
AN amateur footballer who suffered a heart attack during a game is recovering at home just days after the drama unfolded on the pitch.
Nic McCourt, a goalkeeper for an Inverness team, had to be airlifted to hospital in Glasgow where he underwent life-saving surgery on Saturday. The 43-year-old, of Rosehaugh Road, South Kessock, was playing for the SoBar team in an away game against Portree on the Isle of Skye when the medical emergency started to develop.
It happened just a day after former England and Rangers defender Ugo Ehiogu died, aged 44, after suffering a cardiac arrest at Tottenham Hotspurs’ training centre.
“I am totally grateful I am still here,” said Mr McCourt, a father-of-three. “It is going to change my life. Given the way I was, I feel I have been given a second chance. It just puts life into perspective.”
He also revealed he had not lost his sense of humour, joking about the final result – a 4-3 loss for his team although they had been 3-1 up when he was still on the pitch.
Mr McCourt, a cleaning operative for CleanCo, relived the drama which began about 15 minutes into the preliminary round fixture for the Highland Amateur Cup.
“I suddenly started feeling light-headed and dizziness,” he said. “The next thing I knew I was on the ground.”
Within minutes, paramedics were at the scene and he was immediately stretchered into an ambulance and placed on heart monitors and medication to thin his blood.
“I was in and out of consciousness and they were discussing things on the radio,” he recalled. “It came through that Raigmore Hospital couldn’t accept me and I had to go to Glasgow.”
As shocked and concerned team-mates resumed the game, he was taken by helicopter to the Golden Jubilee Hospital – a journey of about 70 minutes – where he underwent surgery to have a cardiac stent inserted that night.
He underwent further surgery on Monday to have three more stents inserted before being allowed to return home the following day.
“The journey back up the road was quite emotional,” Mr McCourt said. “Things go through your mind. On the Saturday I had been thinking, ‘Is this it?’ It is one of those life-changing things.”
As a 15-a-day smoker, he has already taken the first steps in giving up his habit.
“I did smoke but I always thought I was fit,” said Mr McCourt, who doesn’t drink alcohol. “I never really came down ill. I had never any heart problems.
“If something like this came out of the blue for me, it could happen to anyone.”
A self-confessed workaholic, who loves his job, he is also wondering whether he should ease up slightly. Mr McCourt paid tribute to those involved in his care.
“I would like to say a big thank you to the paramedics, the boys in the helicopter and the staff at the Golden Jubilee,” he said. “No matter how many times I say thank you, it will never be enough.”
He has also been overwhelmed by the many messages of goodwill from the area’s football community. “You don’t realise how many people it actually affects until something like this happens,” he said.
His wife Frances, who dashed down to Glasgow to be at his bedside was relieved to see him back at home.
“We were panicking on the way there,” she said. “There was only so much information we were getting and by the time we arrived it was too late to see him that night.”
SoBar team manager Kenny Jackson is also relieved to see his close friend back at home.
“I knew something was seriously wrong when Nic asked to come off,” he said. “I didn’t know it was a heart attack until much later when he was in the ambulance.”
He said there was a downbeat mood on the journey back to Inverness afterwards.
“It was a long road home for us,” he said. “It obviously affected us. We are all good pals and we have a few young players who are only 17 or 18.”
He has contacted the Scottish Football Association and the Highland Amateur Cup secretary to inform them of what happened and to query whether the game should have resumed.
“I am not too bothered,” he said. “As long as Nic came home, that was all I care about. We can worry about other things later.”
