Carlton Palmer rushed to hospital after ex-England star, 57, has suspected heart attack before finishing half-marathon
FORMER England star Carlton Palmer has been rushed to hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack.
The ex-midfielder was running in the Sheffield half marathon on Sunday when he felt his heart “play up”, so went to hospital.
Palmer revealed he had suffered a suspected small heart attack and is undergoing tests in hospital to find the cause of the problem.
He tweeted: “Just to let everyone know I am OK, being kept in overnight in hospital observation/tests heart played up again in the first mile but I managed to complete the course.
“Thank you so much for all the lovely messages I have being kept in hospital with a suspected small heart attack, they want to find out what has caused this problem so tests are ongoing. I will keep you updated.”
Chris Kamara showed support for the former Leeds star, tweeting: “I’m not the best person to talk to about ignoring stuff Carlton but carrying on running a 10k with heart palpitations. Are you sure! But glad you are ok.”
The 57-year-old was raising money for several charities but felt a problem with his heart in the first mile.
However he was still able to finish the race alongside his wife Lucy Kirkby-Palmer.
After Palmer was taken to hospital she tweeted: “Listen to your body! If something is not right get it sorted – please don’t leave it and carry on as normal. Your body speaks to you don’t ignore it.”
Palmer is aiming to run the London Marathon on April 28 to raise money for Cavendish Cancer Care.
Palmer has had problems with his heart before and in 2016 he underwent a life-saving five-hour operation for a heart condition.
He said of the incident: “I was fighting for my life. I could feel the air leaving my body. My heart was pounding like it was trying to get out of my chest and it was getting worse.
“I’d always been quite flippant about death. When it comes, it comes, that was my attitude but now I was thinking, ‘f*** me’, and all the things I should have done were flashing through my mind.
“Someone was shouting, ‘He’s going to arrest,’ and someone else was shouting ‘quickly’ and I was lying on the trolley with my arms and legs over the sides and I thought it was a stupid way to die.”
Palmer won 18 caps for England, scoring once, while his professional career spanned 19 years and eight clubs.
His main stint came at Sheffield Wednesday where he made 191 appearances and won the League Cup in 1991.
He also finished as a runner-up in the competition with the Owls in 1993 and again with Leeds in 1996.
Palmer also missed out on FA Cup final success after losing the 1993 final to Arsenal.