Leeds United's pitch announcer praises his brave children who stepped up during heart emergency

Leigh Nicholson, 42, suffered difficulty breathing on Wednesday evening and initially feared he had caught Covid-19.

His symptoms worsened the following morning and his heart rate rocketed, leaving him feeling dizzy and numb.

Leigh began to hyperventilate and managed to call an ambulance, but was unable to speak.

His children, 12-year-old Ruby and 10-year-old Jack, showed incredible bravery by stepping in to speak to the 999 operator, keeping their dad calm and liaising with their mum - who was at work at Leeds General Infirmary.

Leigh said: “I felt like I couldn’t get a full breath into my lungs, I had a really bad night.

“In the morning it started to get worse and worse. My arms and legs started to feel numb, I started to go really dizzy and my heart was racing - it felt like it was going to burst out my chest.

“I had all but got a Covid test arranged, but then I felt like I was going to pass out.

"I had to lie down and managed to dial 999, said ambulance, then that’s when I had to hand over the phone to Ruby and she handled it from there."

Ruby checked her dad's breathing while waiting for the first responder to arrive, all while keeping her dad and little brother calm.

She had just received online training on how to administer CPR through her school, Garforth Academy, and said she kept calm by reminding herself that help was on the way.

Ruby said: "I had to keep an eye on how he was breathing to make sure it wasn’t getting any worse, I was told to try and keep him calm as well as try and keep myself and my brother calm.

"It was a bit much at the time, I had to ring my mum as well to make sure she knew what was going on, and keep my Grandma updated with everything.

"I just thought to myself - the first responder is on their way. And I had just done a lesson on CPR a couple of weeks before this. I was preparing for the worst."

Leigh was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition which causes an irregular and often fast heartbeat.

He was given medication to help his heart rate come down before being discharged later that day. He is now awaiting an appointment with a cardiology specialist to discuss how to manage the condition.

Leigh added: "There’s been a bit of an outpouring from people who have got in touch with me, saying they’ve had an AF episode and managing it with drugs.

"It’s good they’ve caught it early, as it can lead to blood clots and can be a little bit more serious."

Leigh, who is well known among Leeds United fans, shared his story on Twitter and was flooded with hundreds of messages from fans across the country.

Ruby and Jack were praised for keeping level-headed and the brave pair even received the offer of an Amazon voucher as a well-done gift for their actions.

"They deserve that and so much more", Leigh said.

"It makes me well up, I’m incredibly proud of how calm and level-headed Ruby was. It’s a situation that you never expect your children to be in.

"In the current climate, with everything they’re having to deal with in regards to being schooled from home and not having access to their friends and life being so different for them, for Ruby to be able to remain as calm and collected as she did is just credit to the resilience of both Ruby and Jack."

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