Former Liverpool defender heart stopped three times after surgeon 'had to Google operation'

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It came on in a week - one day I couldn't walk 100 yards, then 50 yards, then I couldn't get up five steps without feeling like I was going to fall over."They rushed me to hospital and my heart was between 140 and 150 beats per minute at rest - that's marathon pace. Over about six months I had all the tests, and then they stopped my heart and restarted it, which they do every day."I had a German surgeon with a good sense of humour.

If it doesn't restart after seven times, you're a goner - and it's the first time I've done it. Then I needed a pacemaker, because my heart was stopping during the night - it keeps the heartbeat regular."After that I had a gastric sleeve to lose a load of weight and take the pressure off my heart."Ruddock won the League Cup during his time at Liverpool and had been in the team in the build up to the FA Cup final against Manchester United in 1996 before being told by then boss Roy Evans a few days ahead of the game that he wouldn't be in the squad."The manager said he'd name the team, but he kept putting it off," said Ruddock, speaking on The Jeff Stelling Show, in association with OLBG.

"I'd played the quarter-final, the semi-final and the last six games of the season, so everyone assumed it'd be the same side."Then on the Friday he just said 'I don't know how to say this' and walked away."I was in tears. It broke my heart."That's when I went straight into the dressing room, and there was a big fridge of beer, and I just started drinking.