Glenn Hoddle reduces Savage to tears after Spurs legend opens up over heart attack hell at BT Sport studios

GLENN HODDLE left Robbie Savage close to tears after he opened up on the near-fatal cardiac arrest he suffered on his 61st birthday in October.

The former England manager revealed he had partly lost memory of what happened when he suffered the heart attack in the BT Sport studios.

The Spurs legend's heart stopped for a minute after he collapsed off-air during a Teqball game with Savage.

Hoddle has previously said he believes his heart attack was caused by a heart condition inherited from his father.

But thanks to a quick reaction from sound engineer Simon Daniels, and a nine-hour bypass surgery he underwent at St Bartholomew's Hospital, he is now recovering well and is due to come back to punditry for the North London Derby on March 2.

And in an interview with Savage – who was reduced to tears having watched it back while on-air – Hoddle expressed his gratitude for everyone involved in saving his life and revealed he did not remember much of events of the day.

He said: "I'm doing alright, it's been three and a bit months. It's been tough.

"What's the chances of what happened? It was a normal day, I felt fine and travelled into the studio. I remember saying 'I'll see you at 5.30' and the rest is a little bit of a blur.

"I can't remember any of that at all [being on the show]. I remember you and [Paul] Ince walking towards me with a birthday cake.

"I remember that and the other thing I remember is the lizard. The reason the lizard came on I presume because Harry [Redknapp] was going in [I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out Of Here].

"I can't remember the teqball match at all. You didn't beat me did you?"

And when Savage joked that he was leading 2-1, Hoddle added: "I can't believe that.

"I just thank God I was in the studio at that time with Simon [Daniels] there and a defibrillator there. I could have been on my own and I wouldn't be sitting here today.

"What a time to do it as well on your birthday. Some present to myself! It was probably more traumatic to you and the guys on the show because I was out of it.

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"I can't remember the air ambulance although what a job they do.

"The whack on the head meant they took me to the London Hospital. The X-ray showed I was OK. Over three months later if I tap my head there it's still quite tender so it must have been a hell of a blow."

Hoddle has already spoken of tremendous support he received from his family during his rehab.

And the 61-year-old revealed the first image he recalls from the accident was his son Jamie, 27, holding his hand in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

He also added that, although he was not fully conscious ahead of his surgery, he knew he was "lucky" to be alive.

Hoddle continued: "The only other thing I remember is my son Jamie, who lives in London, he was one of the first to arrive and I remember just squeezing his hand and seeing him in the ambulance.

"Thankfully the doctors put a stent in to keep me going until they found out I needed a quadruple bypass. When you are in hospital and on medication I wasn't taking everything in but I knew I was a lucky man.

"Not just lucky with the synchronisation of the timing. There was something going on for quite some time.

"It could have happened any time and that hit me big time afterwards. I could have been with my grandchildren, could have been wherever.

"The hospital staff at St Barts, they were quite incredible."

Hoddle also said the accident made him reevaluate his life and insisted he did not lose his sense of humour – which he claimed had helped him get through this difficult time.

He said: "Over the years I said you become a better player when you pack it in and even better when you pass away, I was close to that.

"Only a few months after my family told me about it I can only thank people for their good wishes and their prayers. That's been a great part of the healing for me.

"(The recovery) has gone really well, I walk a mile, maybe two miles every day now. I used to hate walking unless I was chasing that little white ball in golf.

"Now I have to keep the heart and lungs going and I enjoy it and my family have been great.

"One of the things that has got me through all this is the sense of humour. If they were my last few seconds of life, what a way to go? Playing football. If they were my last seconds on earth it was playing football.

"What's come out of this is you know what, if I had passed away then, what I have done career wise means nothing. It's how you do it.

"If you're a businessman, a politician, whatever, if you have done terrible things to get there that's how you'd be judged. How you get there is far more important."

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