Former NI striker Iain Dowie ‘very lucky’ to suffer cardiac arrest in gym

The 59-year-old said he was at spin class when the “big” cardiac arrest happened.

Speaking to BBC NI at Larne’s Inver Park on Saturday, Dowie said he doesn’t remember much about what happened and praised the gym staff, paramedics and air ambulance.

“I went to spin class and don’t remember too much,” he explained. “I had a big cardiac arrest unfortunately.

“Lots of people looked after me, Adam, Ben, Holly – they did some great things in the gym - and then the HEMS team and ambulance looked after me.

“I ended up in hospital for a good few days but I’ve been brilliant since and the heart’s all in good shape.

“I got a little ICD [implantable cardioverter defibrillator] fitted that will keep me going for maybe another 20 years, I hope.”

Dowie, who won 59 caps for Northern Ireland, added that he was in the right place at the right time when he had the cardiac arrest.

“It was more terrifying for my wife probably watching, but my view is I am one of those lads who looks forward,” he said.

“I have been very, very lucky. It was the right place to have it and maybe it just wasn’t my time.”

Dowie, who is close friends with Larne’s majority owner Kenny Bruce, is the club’s football relationships director and was at Inver Park yesterday as the Co Antrim club retained the Irish Premiership title.