Paramedics bring Nottingham Forest player's father 'back to life' before crunch Bournemouth game

Nottingham Forest player Steve Cook has praised paramedics who he says brought his father back to life, after he had a cardiac arrest shortly before kick off last night against Bournemouth.

In a post on Twitter he praised Bournemouth for their 1-0 win, which scuppered Forest's chances of automatic promotion, then went on to praise the work of paramedics at the ground who rushed to his father's aid.

Thousands of people have responded to the tweet, praising the NHS, including one man who says his daughter, a nurse, was in the crowd and also stepped in to help.

It is unclear if Cook knew about his father's condition and continued to play on, or whether he learned about it after his side's defeat.

AFC Bournemouth said today that the work of the paramedics at the game was incredible.

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The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We’d like to thank Steve Cook for his kind comments and to wish his father well in his recovery.

"We commend everyone who helped, including our own paramedics and emergency care assistants.

"This incident highlights the importance of knowing CPR and having defibrillators available within the community so that lifesaving measures can be carried out in those first crucial minutes after a cardiac arrest.

"We would encourage everyone to learn CPR and there are lots of free resources and training videos available including those on the British Heart Foundation website.”

People on social media who witnessed the incident have rushed to praise the NHS, claiming the paramedics "performed miracles"

Cook started the game for Forest, who needed to win to keep alive their own chances of automatic promotion going into the final game on Saturday.

He was substituted in the 84th minute and replaced by Joe Lolley soon after Kieffer Moore had scored Bournemouth's goal.

Cook, who played in over 370 games in all competitions for Bournemouth himself during his 10-year spell at the south-coast club, was making his 17th appearance for Forest on his first return.