Matchroom Sports head Barry Hearn has revealed his staff bought him a defibrillator after the 72-year-old suffered a second heart attack earlier this year.
Hearn, who oversees the Snooker and Darts among other sections of the Matchroom Empire, spent time in hospital last April.
Now, months on, his employees have made sure help will be on hand should anything happen to Hearn in the future.
He explained: “Every year my staff buy me a great birthday present and this year they have surpassed every previous present with – a defibrillator!
“It’s the present you buy someone who has everything! I LOVE these people!”
Every year my staff buy me a great birthday present and this year they have surpassed every previous present with – a defibrillator! It’s the present you buy someone who has everything ! I LOVE these people !!! pic.twitter.com/rzzfWQpv29
— Barry Hearn (@BarryHearn) June 19, 2020
Speaking to Metro after leaving the hospital, Hearn spoke about how motivated he was to get back to work.
“I’m doing alright. During times like this, you feel silly complaining and I won’t be. There are people going through much worse things than just a little heart problem.
“It was just throwing a couple of stents in.
“When I went into hospital I was embarrassed to be there, really. But everyone told me “no, you’ve got to go” and it was good advice.
“I might not have woken up. That would have been a terrible way to finish the book, wouldn’t it?
“But you still feel embarrassed because they’re front line troops in there ‘I knew what it was because I’d had it before. But this was a minor one, so I was reluctant to go and see anyone.
“I’ve got a cardiologist so I spoke to him, told him the symptoms and he said, “get down there!
“I had a night in the intensive care unit, which was horrendous, but they looked after me really well.”
BARRY HEARN – MATCHROOM BOXING
On the pressure of the corporation on his health, Hearn concluded with a boost to son Eddie’s running of the Matchroom Boxing side of things.
“Maybe it’s told me that I have to grow up a bit, I can’t do everything myself, I need to maybe delegate a bit. But I just don’t like to.
“I didn’t like handing the boxing over to Eddie, but what a good idea that was. He’s doing a better job than I ever did.”
