A teenage Leicester City FC fan collapsed and died of a suspected heart condition after getting upset watching his beloved team LOSE an FA Cup replay match.
Tragic Tom Bedford, 16, was watching the Foxes playing against Tottenham Hotspur in his bedroom on January 20.
The schoolboy was upset his team were losing 2-0 but his parents put it down to the stress of watching the cup tie.
Tom then complained to his mum Helen, 48, that he was struggled to breathe and an ambulance was called.
But he collapsed while it was on the way and his dad John, 48, had to frantically attempt CPR.
The teenager was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary but despite the best efforts of doctors he later died.
His family have been told by the coroner’s office his death was caused by either by arrhythmia – an irregular heart beat – or a blood clot.
Tom’s parents paid tribute to football-mad teen, who lived in Thurcaston, Leics., with his brother Matthew, 14, and nine-year-old sister Emily.
Dad John was also watching the FA Cup replay downstairs because he said they “had a tendency to wind each other up” while watching football.
He added: “He burst into the room after the second goal had gone in, he was upset and he told me so, the game was still going on.
“I heard Helen shout me from upstairs.
“It was the worst thing a parent could ever have to do and to see your child get slowly worse in front of you. It was awful. I couldn’t believe what was happening.
“It was intense, it was unfair and it was wrong.”
“One of the doctors came out and said they’d tried everything they possibly could and there was nothing else they could do.”
Tom’s heart is undergoing tests at a specialist centre in London but it could be several months before the exact cause of death is known.
The family are now calling for more parents to get their children checked out for an irregular heart-beat.
Mum Helen, 48, said: “He said he couldn’t breathe, because he did take the game so seriously.
“He was just a lovely lad, he was family orientated and he was just my boy.”
“We have been advised by the coroners office that it was either an undetected arrhythmia or a blood clot.
“Between 12 to 15 children are lost each week in the UK from Arrhythmia. A simple ECG can detect the problem. We don’t offer this in the UK to parents.
“In Italy where screening is now done on young athletes, the death rate has reduced in that group by 90 per cent.
“Our son’s life is worth more than the £40 cost of an ECG.
“While we may have to wait for up to six months to find out the cause of us losing Tom, another 400 lives could be ripped apart in that time due to arrhythmia.”
Leicester City FC yesterday paid their condolences to Tom and said the Premier League club would be represented at his funeral.
Club ambassador Alan Birchenall, added: “I have been in contact with the family to offer the club’s condolences and I will be going along when the funeral arrangements are made.”
Laura Sanchez, head teacher at The Martin High School, in Anstey, Leic., where Tom was a student, said: “We are really saddened by the loss of Tom. It was a huge shock to us all.
“He was a really loved boy, a quiet, self-contained young man. We will be holding a memorial service next week which we are talking to Tom’s parents about.”
A spokesperson for Leicester Coroner’s Office said it is waiting for the cause of death to be established before deciding if an inquest is needed.
