Heart attack ref thought he was dying
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A MORAY rugby referee revealed the moment he thought he was dying after suffering a heart attack at the end of a game.
And Fraser Anderson thanked one of the players, who was a doctor, for coming to his aid while paramedics raced to the scene.
Mr Anderson (46) was recovering in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, this week following an emergency operation to have a stent fitted to one of his arteries.
He had just finished officiating the Highland v Mackie FPs game in Inverness last Saturday when he took ill.
He had taken a shower and was making his way to the clubhouse when he collapsed.
“It felt like indigestion to start with and then the pain was getting sharper and sharper all the time,” he said.
Mr Anderson was sick and then Highland player Dave Kitchingham, a doctor, dialled 999 before giving him an aspirin and monitoring his condition while the ambulance made its way to the park.
“I was conscious the whole time. It was almost like I was in my body but had no control over it. I thought I was on my way out at one point.
“I couldn’t do anything and my chest just kept getting tighter and tighter as it went on.
“The Highland guy phoned the ambulance so they knew what to expect and he managed to give me an aspirin straight away. I am thankful he was there.
“Luckily, the ambulance crew got me to the hospital within the so-called golden hour.”
Mr Anderson, who lives at Deskford where he is clerk of works with Seafield Estates, hopes to be back at work in the near future and return to the rugby field,?where he has been a referee for over 10 years, in the next couple of months.
Unfortunately, his emergency meant he missed the funeral of his father Russell, a former president of Moray Rugby Club, last Monday.
See Friday's Northern Scot for full story.
