I’m a Tartan Army veteran who’s DIED eight times – but even that won’t stop me following Steve Clarke’s Scotland heroes
A SCOTLAND fan insists not even EIGHT heart attacks could stop him travelling the world to see his heroes in action.
Hardy Andy Redmond, 75, is in Oslo with his mates to see Steve Clarke’s men take on Norway in Saturday’s European Championship qualifier.
The dad-of-four and granddad-of-four said: “I’ve died eight times and I can honestly say I’m just glad I’m not a cat.
“My first was in 2000 when I had three cardiac arrests in the house and two more on the way to hospital.
“Later on that year in October I got a triple by-pass and the surgeon told me that would give me another 12 or 14 years – but that was 22 years ago and I’m still here.
“I was fine until March last year when I was on my way to Bratislava to go to Austria.
“I got to Edinburgh Airport, conked out and found out later I had had another heart attack.
“It was during Covid so nobody could go in the ambulance with me.
“They took me to St John’s in Livingston and as they were taking me out the ambulance I arrested again.
“They did CPR on me and managed to crack all my ribs.
“They brought me back, took me into hospital and just as they were getting into the bed I arrested again.
“They were doing CPR but it wasn’t working so they got the paddles out, the jump leads as I call them.”
Out-cold Andy, of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, had no idea what was happening but when he came round the Tartan Army foot soldier was in for another shock.
Andy, who has been to more than 50 away games, said: “They had cut my kilt right up the front and my 22-year-old Scotland top.
“It was just my luck because just as they were about to start the defibrillator I sat up in bed.
“I was very disappointed because it was an expensive kilt.”
Andy was later fitted with a device similar to that famously used to revive the footie career of Man Utd and Denmark hero Christian Eriksen, who collapsed in a live TV match against Finland during the 2020 Euros.
The retired civil engineer and quantity surveyor said: “They put in a defibrillator the same as the football Christian Erikson although I tell everyone I’m a better footballer than him.”
He’s since had two more episodes, one on a commode in Wishaw General and another in his hometown but the the life-saving gadget did it’s job.
Andy posed up for our snapper with Tartan Army pals David Shaw, Drew Ritchie, Ian McCulloch and David Jardine as they enjoyed the sites on Friday.
They also discovered the cost of a local beer has remained frozen at 2008 prices – on one of the previous occasions the national team played in the Scandinavian city.
A pint of Guinness is currently sitting at £8.28 and a half litre of lager around £6.50
David said: “In the tourist spots, you could pay as much as £10 or even £12 a pint but if you venture back, it’s between £7 and £9.
“Most of the guys agree that’s not too steep.”.
The Ullevaal Stadium is forecast to be hovering around 31C (87F) when the game kicks off at 5pm.
Looking ahead to the match, Andy added: “I’d take a draw right now.”
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