REFEREE Peter Forsdick must be one of the luckiest people alive today.Just a week ago he collapsed during a football match and stopped breathing three times, but today he his at home and able to thank the hero who saved his life.

REFEREE Peter Forsdick must be one of the luckiest people alive today.

Just a week ago he collapsed during a football match and stopped breathing three times, but today he his at home and able to thank the hero who saved his life.

And if he wasn't lucky enough that police sergeant Dave Shorton was playing in goal and leapt to his aid to resuscitate him, Suffolk Fire Brigade was training at the same ground and had oxygen on board which they used to bring the unconscious 47-year-old round.

Speaking from his home in Swansea Avenue, Ipswich, Mr Forsdick told of the moment he collapsed and said his life flashed before his eyes.

He said he thought he was going to die during the incident which happened at a football match at Gainsborough Sports Centre on Sunday .

Mr Forsdick, 47, said: “I have a lot to thank him for - my life in fact.

“The whole thing was very scary and I don't remember a lot of it.

“But I do remember a shadowy figure standing over me in a grey and black uniform. It was him.

“My life had flashed before my eyes and I feared my time was over.”

The Licensed Trade League Division Two match between the Holbrook Swan and Northgate and Old Ipswichians was just 15 minutes in when Mr Forsdick, who was refereeing, clutched his chest and fell to the ground before he stopped breathing.

It is now believed he was suffering from a blood clot on the heart and a severe chest infection which acted as a contributing factor.

He said: “Staff at the hospital don't seem to know why I stopped breathing. But I am undergoing tests now to see if everything is O.K.

“But if it hadn't been for Dave I may not be here now. He didn't just save me on the pitch, he then came to visit me in hospital to make sure I was all right and he went around my daughter's house to tell her and take her to the sports centre to pick up all my belongings. He is a true hero.”

Mr Forsdick works at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, in Ransomes Europark, and has been part of amateur football for several years.

He said: “I have always said we should have a trained medic at every match. Players turn up from loads of places and I haven't seen them all before. I don't know their medical background and someone might need help one day.

“Little did I know it would be me who needed help. I was very lucky to have someone who knew what they were doing there. Someone else might not be so lucky.”

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DAVID Shorten says he was preparing for a free kick on the pitch when he noticed Philip Fordick's knees buckle and jumped straight in to help out.

The acting sergeant for Suffolk Constabulary and goal keeper for Northgate and Old Ipswichians said: “I am no hero but I was very pleased for my medical training last Sunday.

“When I saw his hands go to his chest I knew we were in trouble and shouted for someone to get an ambulance.

“I had also seen some firemen on the ground doing an exercise and knew they would have oxygen so called them over.”

Mr Shorten said he was talking to Mr Forsdick about his medical background before he lost consciousness.

He said: “I was taking his pulse at the time and couldn't feel it. I knew I had to give him mouth-to-mouth. We lost him a couple of times again after that but by that time we had got the oxygen from the firefighters and so that kept bringing him around.

“After he went to hospital I just thought about how I would treat this if it was a police case and just carried out the after care I would show then.

“In my job we do a lot of social care as well as dealing with the event so I naturally wanted to contact his next of kin and let them know what had happened. I also wanted to visit him to see for myself that he was O.K.”