Guernsey Press

Sound supervisor Simon Daniels who saved Glenn Hoddle’s life: I am no hero

Simon Daniels rushed to the rescue in October when the former Tottenham and England footballer collapsed on set.

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The sound supervisor for BT Sport who saved Glenn Hoddle’s life insists he is not a hero.

Simon Daniels rushed to the rescue in October when the former Tottenham and England footballer, a regular pundit, collapsed on set shortly after filming to preview the match between Brighton and Wolves on Robbie Savage’s show.

Daniels managed to stabilise Hoddle, who was taken to hospital after receiving attention and is now on the way to making a full recovery.

Speaking about the incident for the first time to Mary Nightingale in ITV Evening News at 6.30pm on Friday, Daniels said: “I don’t see myself as a hero but also people like Robbie Savage and Harry Redknapp, they all contacted me and it was a bit strange that you know, again these heroes of mine were phoning me up to say ‘Are you alright Simon’?

“I don’t think that anything I’ve ever done is going to be topped by saving someone’s life, but this is Glenn Hoddle, he is a hero to the football world.”

Daniels had been trained in CPR as part of his role as Special Constable at Thames Valley Police but it was the first time he had performed it – and when he started, Hoddle had no pulse.

“It was actually the first time that I’d done CPR on a real person. But I was very aware that I had to do something quickly. I can tell that time was of the essence,” he said.

“I knew that what I was doing was giving him a fighting chance.”

During the process, Daniels broke some of Hoddle’s ribs, something the two men have since shared a joke about.

“I was aware that obviously, I possibly cracked a couple of his ribs, you just have to keep going,” said Daniels.

Glenn Hoddle
Simon Daniels managed to stabilise Glenn Hoddle (pictured) who is now on the way to making a full recovery (Owen Humphreys/PA)

“And the second thing he said to me was ‘You know you broke seven of my ribs’? And we had a laugh and it was just lovely.

“It was the first time I’d actually seen him since the day. It was really good for me to see that he was on the road to recovery.”

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