'I'm one of the lucky ones' - Herron on 'miracle' after collapsing with heart scare

"As soon as I went down I knew I was struggling to breathe. I blacked out and the next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance."

Following Christian Eriksen's collapse at Euro 2020 and Sergio Aguero's retirement, heart issues are a prevalent topic in world football.

On 27 November, John Herron collapsed on the pitch in the closing stages of Larne's Irish Premiership game with Portadown at Shamrock Park.

After receiving treatment on the pitch, the former Celtic, Blackpool and Scotland Under-21 midfielder spent four nights in hospital being treated for a cardiac condition.

"Everyone was saying it was scary but I don't remember anything from the game," said the 27-year-old.

"The best way to describe it is like a stitch in your chest. I took a deep breath in but I couldn't get one back out.

"I started to panic a wee bit, so my initial instinct was to go down on my hands and knees to see if I could open up my airways.

"I was out, in total, for nine or 10 minutes. I was out of consciousness, jumping back into consciousness.

"A few boys said my eyes were rolling, it's not something I remember or want to remember."

Herron regained consciousness in the ambulance at the side of the pitch and would spend four nights in hospital as tests were carried out to determine the cause of the issue.

"I remember looking down and seeing loads of wires hanging from my chest," he recalled.

"I have a phobia of needles and anyone who knows me knows I'm petrified of them.

"After a while a woman came over to me and said: 'We need to put some needles in, we don't know what has happened and we need to find out exactly.'

"At that moment I knew it had to be done so I had to get on with it."

Herron says doctors discovered there was an issue with his heart after high levels of troponin were found in his blood. Troponin is a protein which is often released from the heart when there is a form of cardiac distress.

"I knew then it was pretty serious. Some of my family have long-lasting heart conditions, but I live a healthy life. I cover 13 or 14km a game so I'm a fit enough boy," he added.

"The scary part was when they checked my heart and it was undamaged and untouched. The doctor said it was just like an anomaly.

"He said he had never seen anything like it in 32 years. With the blood situation and all the scanning MRIs and tests - then it came back my heart values were undamaged, the gateways to my heart were undamaged and my heart itself was undamaged.

"Even for a 27-year-old athlete my heart is in good condition. That it was a relief for me, but at the same time I didn't know what was happening or why it happened.

"I'm one of the lucky ones and, as the doctor said, it had kind of been a miracle."

While Eriksen is unlikely to play football for Inter Milan again and Aguero was forced to retire, Herron is "highly confident" he will be able to return to action in the future and has "never once thought" about retirement.

"Whatever happened to me on the pitch happened, but if I am healthy enough and in a good condition to go and play then I am definitely going to do that," added Herron.

"When I was sitting in hospital, the doctor came in and said: 'You'll never play another professional football game in your life. You are 27 and you have had some sort of heart situation'.

"I done some tests, had more needles and wires hanging from me, then we done a treadmill test and I smashed it.

"I reached the levels that I needed to reach, and I knew myself if I got to certain levels they couldn't say no to me playing again."

He says signs are promising so far and he will fly to Celtic, who reached out to their former player after hearing of his collapse, over the Christmas period for further tests which will determine whether he gets the green light to return.

Herron adds he will also be "eternally grateful" for those at Larne who have helped him since his collapse.

"It would be very easy to look at the negative side but I am not that type of person. People get dealt certain cards but you just have to get on with it," he said.

"Even when the doctor said [that I might not be able to play again], I asked was it 100% and he said 'no', so I said, 'OK, I'm going to play again'.

"There still is a situation where there may be gaps or holes or tubes not working and that is what caused it, but even then I'm not thinking about it and I don't want to think about it.

"The only goal for me is getting back on the pitch, so that is exactly what I am going to do."