Glenn Hoddle has revealed his heart stopped for a minute during the cardiac arrest suffered in the BT Sport studios last October.
Hoddle collapsed after a live television broadcast on his 61st birthday, and had to be rushed to hospital for lifesaving surgery.
He was in intensive care for a period before being discharged to continue his recovery at home, and he has spoken for the first time since the incident in an interview with The Sun.
And Hoddle, who played for Tottenham, Monaco, Swindon and Chelsea throughout a 20-year career, revealed an engineer, Simon Daniels, brought him back to life as his heart stopped for ‘at least 60 seconds’.
“My heart stopped for at least 60 seconds,” the former England manager said. “I was gone.
“The engineer ran to me and brought me back to life. I wouldn’t be here if not for him. It just wasn’t my time to go.”
Hoddle had earlier celebrated his birthday live on the Saturday Morning Savage show, before he played a game of ‘Teqball’ with the host, Robbie Savage.
“Robbie and I had been playing the keepy-uppy game [Teqball] at the end of the programme,” Hoddle went on.
“Robbie said that after the credits rolled I was just at the moment of volleying the ball back to him when I fell backwards and smashed my head on the floor.
“It’s ironic that if I had died, the last thing I would have done on this earth was kick a ball. What a way to go!
“It could have happened on live TV. The timing of everything on the day was incredible.
“Robbie thought I was messing around with him when I fell to the floor.
“We had been having banter. Then he stopped laughing and thought I might have swallowed my tongue.
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“But he soon realised something very serious had happened.
“He couldn’t do anything, so started shouting for help.”
Mr Daniels, a volunteer policeman, rushed to Hoddle’s aid and fitted a defibrillator after administering chest compressions.
Paramedics soon arrived on the scene and quickly took notice of the serious head injury Hoddle suffered during his collapse.
“I bumped my head so badly that that was their first concern,” he continued. “My head was so black it looked like I had been burned.
“They were worried about my brain. Only after that did they sort my heart.”
Following the incident, Hoddle has teamed up with the British Heart Foundation, and he admitted his delight at a Government ruling that means CPR and defibrillator use must be taught in schools, starting next year.
He finished: “I was very happy to hear that news. What’s more important than saving a life?
“I’m so glad that the Government has decided to look at this with a view to adding it to the curriculum.
“There should be some sort of medical training early on in schools, because it will never leave you. I want to help bring about this change.”