March 10 – Former England international defender Stuart Pearce is reported to be in good spirits after suffering a medical emergency on a flight from Las Vegas.
Pearce, who starred for Nottingham Forest and is now a respected pundit, is recovering in hospital in Canada after the flight to UK was diverted when he became unwell.
Pearce, 62, had been in Las Vegas to watch a rugby league match between Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves when he became unwell on the flight back to London on Sunday March 2.
After he received treatment on the Virgin Atlantic plane, a decision was made to make an emergency landing in Canada.
Football commentator Sam Matterface, who works with Pearce at talkSPORT, said: “I spoke to him yesterday, he’s in great spirits. He isn’t 100%, that is definitely the case, but he is in the right place, he is in the hospital. They are dealing with it.”
A message was displayed on the big screen at Forest’s City Ground reading ‘Get Well Soon Stuart’, after three minutes of the Premier League game against Manchester City on Saturday, recognising Pearce’s old shirt number three.
Pearce, who also played for City, made 401 appearances for Forest during a 12-year stint.
He earned 78 caps for England and played in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, in which he missed a penalty in the shootout defeat to West Germany.
He achieved redemption years later when he scored in the quarter-final shootout win over Spain during Euro 96 – with his celebration afterwards being one of the defining moments of the tournament for the Three Lions.
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