Morecambe FC’s legendary kitman has thanked everyone for their good wishes after he suffered a heart attack during the game against Wigan earlier this month.
Les Dewhirst was rushed to hospital where he had surgery, and is now back home continuing his recovery, ahead of returning to the Mazuma Stadium this weekend.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, Les said he began to feel unwell shortly before the start of the game at the DW Stadium.
In an emotional interview with the official club website, Les recalled: ‘’It was about 15 minutes before the game. I saw (defender) Liam Gibson and told him I wasn’t feeling too good. He told me to get checked out but I said I’d sit on the bench and wait for kick off.
‘’Kick off come and my chest was on fire. The doctor came to see me and gave me a tablet. I wasn’t sweating though, which is apparently a symptom. Later in the half I was checked on again and I told them I wasn’t right. I managed to walk to the Medical Room, and a while later the doctor said to me ‘you’re going through a heart attack’.
‘’Within half an hour I’d gone from feeling fine to being ‘blue lighted’ all the way to hospital in Wythenshawe.
‘’My daughter and son came into the room, and I remember Ryan (Daly, Head of Media) and Rod (Taylor, Co-Chairman), speaking to me in the back of the ambulance, and that meant a lot that staff from the club came to check on me despite the game still going on.’’
Since leaving hospital, Les has been overwhelmed with well-wishers, and Les said he’s grateful to everybody for their support.
‘’All of the comments and messages mean something. I’ve had more than a thousand people contact me and it means a lot, staff, former players, fans, many who I don’t even know.
‘’I got taken straight in after about a 35-minute journey to Wythenshawe. I got fitted with a stent and was on the ward by early evening. The staff were all spot on, and all the staff at Wigan were so professional. I thank them.’’
Les has been Morecambe FC’s kit man since the mid-90s, and his association with the club goes back decades. He says he’s now looking forward to slowly returning to work, starting with some light duties for the Shrimps’ League One fixture with Oxford United on Saturday.
‘’I’m going to be back in on Friday,’’ he confirmed. ‘’I know my limits for the next while, so I’ll come, do a bit, and on Saturday, like every Morecambe fan, we want three points. I’m sure something special is going to happen.’’
Everyone at Beyond Radio would like to wish Les all the very best in his recovery, and we look forward to seeing him back where he belongs very soon.
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