Former England football manager Glenn Hoddle has revealed he has a new outlook on life after surviving a near-fatal cardiac arrest.
Glenn ‘died’ when his heart stopped for 60 seconds during the medical emergency, which happened in the BT Sport studio almost five years ago. He says he’s incredibly lucky - and thankful to still be here. “I’ve seen life through new eyes and my consciousness has opened up even more,” Glenn adds.
“It changes your life when something like this happens, and I’m so grateful every second of every day now. It jolts you into thinking there’s more to life than we think, and it makes you go deeper into yourself.”
Glenn, 65, says he’s a firm believer in the afterlife, but one of the things that surprised him was that he doesn’t recall having a near-death experience.
“I wish I had, because I’ve read about it before,” says Glenn. “Looking back on it, I would have thought if anybody would have that kind of experience it would have been me because my mind is open to that. But the cardiac arrest changed me. I have a new perspective on life.”
It was sound engineer - and now Glenn’s ‘friend for life’ - Simon Daniels who was there to save the day when he performed CPR on the pundit. The former Spurs midfielder went into cardiac arrest on his 61st birthday. Glenn says: “What a present that Simon was there and able to save my life, it was the greatest gift anybody could give anyone.”
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Glenn says before his cardiac arrest he didn’t know how to do CPR, but after recovering he went on a course with his family so they could all learn how to do it. Over 30,000 cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital each year, with around 80% happening in a place of residence – meaning that the first responder will very likely be a friend or family member.
And with the ongoing NHS crisis and long waits for ambulances, it is more important than ever that people know how to do lifesaving CPR. But new research from health and wellbeing brand Beurer has found if put in a situation where they needed to save a life by CPR, 41% of Brits would not feel confident, with 11% not confident in the slightest.
Glenn adds: “People get nervous doing CPR as they don’t want to hurt the person in danger. Simon broke seven of my ribs and the nurse told me it was ‘good CPR’. People have to understand if you’re saving someone’s life this is what you have to do, you have to push harder than you think to keep someone’s heart going.”
Glenn is now working with technology brand Beurer, who have just released LifePad, a £60 gadget that guides people through CPR. The portable, lifesaving device, is on sale in Argos and can be easily carried around in a bag.
“Even if somebody doesn’t know how to do CPR, it will give them the instructions and that confidence to be able to achieve it,” says Glenn. Especially now with the long waits, it can buy people some extra time. This little invention is so important. It bridges the gap and can save a life while waiting for somebody to locate a defibrillator or for the ambulance to arrive.”
For more info, see lifepad-cpr.com
