Sir Geoff Hurst fitted with pacemaker after England icon suffered heart scare

England legend Sir Geoff Hurst has been fitted with a pacemaker after suffering a heart scare during a walk in the park.

The 79-year-old, famed for netting a hat-trick back in England's iconic 4-2 World Cup triumph back in 1966, saw his pulse shoot up to 200 beats per minute.

Hurst was fitted with a pacemaker two weeks ago after being pencilled in for emergency surgery.

The footballing legend is one of just three surviving members from England's World Cup-winning squad from over half a century ago.

And he admits that recent events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, puts his heart issues into perspective.

"Life is a lottery," Hurst told The Sun.

( Image:

Adam Gerrard / Sunday Mirror)

"Look at my colleagues from the World Cup team. Sadly, some of them have had one issue or another and have passed away during this awful time.

"I have just had a pacemaker fitted. I had a mild stroke a couple of years ago and had tests after that. I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, which is not life threatening.

"When you tell people you have a pacemaker they think 'oh Christ', but for me it is not quite like that.

"I wasn't feeling bad beforehand but it prevents the irregularities and possibly falling over and damaging myself or driving a car and running somebody over.

"I have got to see a specialist in four to six weeks just to recap.

"But I'm doing OK with it."

Hurst reveals that he had had to pause his usual routine to keep fit following his surgery.

But the England icon is hopeful that he'll be able to resume his Joe Wicks workout regime when he catches up with specialists in a few weeks.

He added: "I did exercise every day — walking and twenty minutes of Joe Wicks. And I have stuck with that routine.

"It was enough and kept my weight slightly lower than it was beforehand.

"I have a watch and a chest strap which monitors your heart rate.

"Walking up a normal slope in the park it is between 90 and 95. But my watch occasionally showed 200. I had to stop going to the gym because of Covid.

"When they re-opened, you got all the stories about having to wipe down equipment after use and I thought 'I am not doing that'.

Hurst celebrates England's 1966 World Cup triumph along with Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles and Martin Peters ( Image:

John Varley/REX/Shutterstock)

"I quite enjoy the different Joe Wicks programmes. I have stopped doing it while I am bedding the pacemaker in.

"I can then decide with the specialist if I can go back to normal. I've spoken to people who've had them. They say their lives went back to normal, although my life wasn't anywhere near abnormal.

"But the biggest issue is the driving. If you have a blackout when you are driving that can be very serious.

"That in itself persuaded me, without really feeling bad at all apart from the watch issue, to decide to have one fitted, and I did a couple of weeks ago."