A DAD-OF-TWO from Widnes will be 'forever grateful to his guardian angels' after the swift actions of his team-mates and sports centre staff saved his life on the football pitch.

Peter Adamson has been a member of St Helens Walking Football Club for five months – training at Sutton Leisure Centre weekly.

But on October 31, the 63-year-old had to be revived by team-mates and staff at the leisure centre after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch.

Seeing his teammate in distress, Gareth Clarke gave first response CPR action, while other players alerted staff members Craig Milligan and Sean Clayton.

They ran to the pitch with a defibrillator which restarted Peter's heart ahead of paramedics and an ambulance arriving.

Later Dr Jay Wright at Broadgreen Hospital confirmed to Peter that he owed his life to the prompt attention received at Sutton Leisure – from his team-mates and leisure centre staff.

Novelist Peter said: "After I played the first five-a-side game and came off to get a drink, I went over to speak to the lads and the next thing I knew all the lights went off.

"When I kind of came to my team-mates were over me telling me I was going to be OK, and I got taken in an ambulance to Whiston Hospital who sent me to Broadgreen Hospital.

"The paramedics told me that 'you own your football mates and those lads your life'.

"I had no idea what happened but I found out that I had died on that pitch – but because my team-mates gave me CPR while the centre staff brought a defibrillator, it brought me back.

"I've only been playing with the team for five months and I never thought that this group of lads would go on to save my life.

"The staff at Sutton Leisure centre were so good getting the defib to me so fast, it shows you the importance of those things.

"I'm just forever grateful that I had my guardian angels there to save me when I needed it.

"I had been in Salzburg just two days earlier with my wife Carol, and if it had happened then I may not be here."

Since the incident, Peter has had an operation to fit a implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) which will restart his heart if this ever happens again.

He has been told the cause of the heart attack was a condition called Myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, and is not related to lifestyle.

Peter added: "When I went to thank my team-mates after I got out of hospital they were shrugging it off like it was nothing.

"It's these times you wish you had a load of money to give people to physically show them how thankful you are because words just don't seem enough.

"After this has happened to me, as well as being really grateful to those who helped me, it's made me realise how important these defibrillators are and how they should be in every public place, especially sports venues.

"It happened to me, I'm healthy, I play football and karate. I had no idea I had any issues with my heart so it can happen to anyone.

Since the incident, St Helens Walking Football Club have decided to raise awareness for more people to be equipped to deal with emergencies.

Club secretary Michaylo Fedyk added: "We will now have training provided for four of our members to become fully qualified first aiders.

"In the three years since our formation we have been involved in tournaments around the North West without incident. So, we are planning to arrange a competition next year to raise funds to provide a defibrillator for another community project like ours."

St Helens Walking Football Club for over 50s train every Wednesday at 7pm.