Twenty-seven years on, a picture of health, he has married his fiancée Leanne Denton.

When he was born, doctors at the old Staincliffe Hospital in Dewsbury declared him stillborn because there was no heartbeat. Moments later, they noticed a slight movement of his arm and he was rushed to a specialist cardiac unit.

There it was found that Richard had been born with a congenital heart defect and at just seven days old, Richard made medical history and became the youngest ever patient to be fitted with a pacemaker, an operation that became national and international news.

Mum Pat, of East Park Street, Morley said: "The story went all over the world, with newspapers calling him 'Richard the Lionheart'.

"It wasn't until I was in labour we knew something was wrong. They tried to get his heartbeat on the monitor, but the equipment wasn't sensitive enough to pick it up.

"When he was born, the umbilical cord was around his neck and they confirmed a stillbirth, then he started to move, but his heartbeat was only 38 beats per minute – it should have been 140."

Seven days later, Richard had the £3,500, 30 gram pacemaker fitted in his lung cavity behind the ribs and has lived a very full and normal life.

He was a pupil of Victoria Primary and Morley High School and went on to gain a degree in Geography and Transport Planning at the University of Leeds.

And on July 5, Richard Andrew Brightmore, eldest son of Roger and Pat Brightmore, was married to Leanne Emma Denton at St Andrew's Church.