Father of Aston Villa fan who collapsed during Olympiacos Europa League clash issues update after worrying scenes
The DAD of an Aston Villa fan who was given emergency treatment during their Europa Conference League clash with Olympiacos has reportedly thanked those involved in saving his son’s life.
The supporter collapsed just before the half-time interval, prompting stadium staff to evacuate the lower section of the Holte End so he could be given medical treatment.
The fan suffered a cardiac arrest but has thankfully survived the horror ordeal.
And his dad – according to the Birmingham Mail – took to Twitter to thank fans for leaving the area in an orderly fashion to allow his son to receive life-saving treatment.
He wrote on X: “Thank you for your thoughts, it was my son that collapsed.
“He is in hospital but sitting up and well waiting tests.
“Thank you to the amazing staff and supporters and emergency services who saved his life.”
The start of the second half was delayed while the supporter received treatment, which arrived in double-quick time.
TNT Sports‘ Becky Ives said: “Unfortunately right on the stroke of half-time the medical emergency happened.
“I was down the tunnel and the emergency services moved very quickly.
“They moved quickly to remove fans from the lower tier of the Holte End on the left-hand side.
“There have been quite a few discussions going on as to how long the game will have to be halted for as the fan is moved into the waiting ambulance.
“Obviously we wish the fan all our good wishes and the health of the fan comes first.”
Villa face an uphill task to reach the Conference League final after suffering a 4-2 defeat to the Greek giants.
But manager Unai Emery is refusing to give up hope, saying: “We are frustrated and disappointed, we didn’t play well.
“We didn’t have control of the game, we were playing so fast.
“In a lot of moments we needed to stop them and get in the box with more passes.
“They were attacking and they played the matches so open and the plan was completely different. They did well and we didn’t do like we planned.
“They are favourite and they deserved to win today, we try to come back next week but they are favourite, we will play there trying to show something different.”