Wembley stand honour for cardiac arrest fan

A football fan who survived a cardiac arrest when a stranger stepped in to save his life has had a stand at Wembley Stadium temporarily named after him.

Bradford City supporter Ed McCann, 45, collapsed in a bar beneath Blackpool Tower on a work night out, but was saved by bar manager – and Burnley fan – Jason Clegg, 34, who performed CPR for about 10 minutes until paramedics arrived.

As part of a Sky Bet, EFL and British Heart Foundation (BHF) campaign to encourage more people to learn CPR, Wembley's four stands have been temporarily renamed after fans, including McCann.

"Coming out of Wembley tunnel and to see my name on the stand was absolutely fantastic," he said.

"I was in awe. We came out through the tunnel where the players come out and I was lucky enough to have the stand with my name just in front of us."

McCann has been joined on his trip to Wembley by Clegg, who has now become "like a brother", he said.

"I managed to meet Jason and we've been good friends ever since.

"It's something I'm experiencing with him so it's our story, and I know it's my name up there, but it's our story."

The journey to Wembley has been bittersweet for McCann after Bradford City lost 1-0 to Bolton Wanderers on 14 May, ruling his team out of the League One Play-off Final.

But he said it had still been a "fantastic" season.

"A double promotion would have been fantastic but I like what we did and I enjoyed the journey. Up and at 'em next season," he added.

McCann had no symptoms before his cardiac arrest in November 2017, and his wife Anna was heavily pregnant. But after the heart attack he was put in an induced coma to recover.

"When I was coming around from the coma one of the first things I remember was my wife suddenly deciding that now was the time," he said.

McCann said he was in the cardiac ward and his wife was in the maternity ward: "Funnily enough, we could actually see each other through a window.

"The staff at Blackpool had put us in certain rooms. So a lovely little story – but not the story I had planned."

Now, they are encouraging football fans to learn CPR for themselves.

Each year in the UK, more than 40,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, with fewer than one in 10 surviving, according to the BHF.

Community resuscitation manager Sam Kennard said CPR was the "difference between life and death".

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