Sheffield Wednesday fan who saved dad's life during match makes CPR plea

  • Video report by Jonathan Brown

A bride-to-be who saved her dad's life after he collapsed as he watched a football match just weeks before her wedding is calling for fellow fans to learn emergency first aid.

Ellie Starks was watching a Sheffield Wednesday game on television with her dad, Owls supporter Dennis Morton, when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

The 28-year-old palliative care nurse started performing CPR as her mother rang 999.

She said: "It was the day before what was meant to be my hen do and two weeks, to the day, to what would have been my wedding.

"So I remember just thinking, you cannot leave me. I need you to walk me down the aisle."

Mr Morton survived the incident, in August last year, and managed to walk Ellie down the aisle after her wedding was delayed to allow for his recovery.

Recalling that moment, he said: "I'm a very emotional person. When we started walking down the aisle. I couldn't see anything for tears."

In his speech at his daughter's reception, he told guests: "If it wasn't for me she wouldn't be here. Then again, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here."

The father and daughter are now backing the Every Minute Matters Campaign, launched by the British Heart Foundation, which encourages football fans to take an online course in lifesaving skills.

Ellie and Dennis met Barry Bannan at Hillsborough to share their story as part of the Every Minute Matters campaign. Credit: ITV News

More than 150,000 people have signed up since the campaign was launched eight months ago.

Ellie said: "Without CPR dad wouldn't be here.

"We have season tickets and we could have been at Hillsborough that night. [If we had] it would have been nice to think that the people around us would have known what to do."

Mr Morton added: "It could be a brother, your sister, your mother, your father. It could be a best friend. It's just an important thing to learn and it only takes 15 minutes."

Mr Morton and Ellie met Wednesday captain Barry Bannan, who is also backing the campaign, during a visit to Hillsborough.

He said: "This is just one of the stories that we are hearing about. I'm sure there's plenty more stories of people reviving family members or people in any walk of life.

"If you've got this in your armoury [...] then the world will be a safer place for us all."

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