Stuart Pearce opens up on health scare after going to watch Warrington in Las Vegas

Former England football star Stuart Pearce has given an update on his health after suffering an issue while travelling back from seeing his beloved Warrington Wolves in action.

Stuart Pearce is well known to rugby league fans across the board thanks to his regular appearances in the ground at Warrington Wolves’ Halliwell Jones Stadium, and he also travelled to Las Vegas recently to see the Wire face Wigan Warriors at Allegiant Stadium. Pearce revealed how doctors had to restart his heart during a flight home from Las Vegas.

The former England international spent some time in hospital in Canada after the plane was diverted. He had experienced chest pains during a flight back to the UK on March 7. Pearce left hospital on Monday and is now recuperating.

Speaking on talkSPORT on the White and Jordan show, Pearce admitted: “My heart rate was racing, my resting heart rate from the time I was monitored on the airplane was anything about 155 beats a minute.

“That was ridiculous really. Also my heart wasn’t pumping enough blood around the system and there was some swelling. At the end of the week, they told me they were going to stick a tube down my throat and if there’s no swelling, we’ll stop your heart and reboot it again. That’s exactly what they did on Friday, my heart went back to a normal rate and they released me the following day.”

Pearce added: “I’m in good form, just on the flight I had chest pains and stuff like that. The crew on Virgin were brilliant, looked after me fantastically. They said ‘we’re not going to take the chance travelling across the Atlantic, we’re going to drop you off’. I’ve been in Newfoundland for 10 days now, just five days in hospital and a few days out. The only downside is our bags went onto London and we were left with Martin Keown’s autobiography!”