A dad-to-be collapsed and died during a charity football match just weeks after discovering he was to be a father. Jamie Harper, 34, was airlifted to hospital after he took ill at a five-a-side football centre in Leeds on Sunday, just four days after moving in with his girlfriend Leah Hayes, 24.
He was pronounced dead shortly before 1.41pm at Leeds General Infirmary, less than two weeks after sharing his exciting news on social media. It is believed Jamie, a chef at a Wetherspoons pub, suffered a heart attack while taking part in a charity five-a-side tournament with workmates.
Grieving Leah said on Tuesday that Jamie was 'so excited' to become a father for the first time and she had no doubts that he'd make a great dad. And Leah, already mum to four-year-old Evelyn, revealed that whether the child is a boy or girl, she will name them after their dad.
Leah, who is 14 weeks pregnant, said: "We were talking about baby names, but I've decided I'm going to name the baby after him and call it Jamie. It's the only choice now.
"He'd just moved in that Thursday, he'd moved all his stuff into my house. He was going to adopt my daughter, she'd started calling him dad.
"She's never had a dad so having Jamie in our lives for the last year had been great. He was so excited to be a dad, it's all he'd ever wanted was to have children and have a family.
"I'd spoken to him about 11 o'clock that day. I'm diabetic and my blood sugar levels were low.
"His last words to me were 'make sure you have something to eat for the baby, it's going to be a strong rugby player one day. I told him to have a good day and message me when he could."
Leah found out the tragic news after her mum rang her after seeing tributes pouring in for Jamie on social media. Her mum rushed to meet her to break the dreadful news in person and Leah went to see Jamie's parents later that evening.
They told her he'd suffered a heart attack, but an autopsy would have to be done to discover what caused it. Leah added: "His dad and uncle have both had heart attacks, thankfully they've survived.
"But other than sore feet from working on them all day, Jamie never complained of any health issue. He never said anything about his heart.
"He was quite fit and healthy. He did the charity football game every year since he'd worked there."
Jamie, from Castleford, West Yorks, had moved in with Leah and her daughter last Thursday. The couple had been together since February when rugby-mad Jamie took her to a Castleford Tigers match for their first date after they'd met through a mutual friend.
They went on a summer break to Ingoldmells on the Lincolnshire coast, which was Evelyn's first holiday. But Leah has been left heartbroken after their bright future together was cut cruelly short.
She added: "I'm so depressed. This was the happiest I'd ever been and it's all been taken away so quickly.
"He was the first loving man I'd ever met. He would always go out of his way to help people, no matter what.
"He was at every hospital appointment with me, he'd take my daughter to school and pick her up. He treated her like his own. He would have been an amazing dad."
A fundraising page has been set up to give Jamie, who followed rugby league team Castleford home and away, a fitting send off. Any money left over will be used by Leah, who doesn't work due to poor health, to help cover the costs of equipment for her unborn baby.
She said: "My mum is trying to get in touch with Castleford Tigers to see if they'd come down. Nothing got in the way of his rugby, he was there every week, he followed them home and away.
"The only time I'd see him upset is if they lost a game. He'd already bought lots of Cas-themed stuff for the baby."
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police there were no suspicious circumstances and the Coroner’s Office has been informed.
Visit here to donate to the fundraising page.
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