Stuart Pearce gives health update to talkSPORT after scare on Las Vegas flight

England legend and popular talkSPORT pundit Pearce fell ill last Monday during a flight from Las Vegas to London Heathrow.

He was given treatment by Virgin Atlantic staff and the flight was diverted to St John's in Canada.

Pearce has been recovering in hospital after watching his beloved Warrington Wolves play Wigan Warriors in Vegas.

And appearing on White and Jordan on Tuesday, he was in good spirits and even able to poke fun at Arsenal legend Martin Keown.

He said: "Absolutely brilliant, I went to meet my maker last week and it wasn't God, it was actually Lord Jordan sitting in his seat that I actually had to meet, but he said, 'Your time is not up big fella,' and he sent me away.

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"So in all seriousness, I'm in good form, on the flight I had chest pains and stuff like that, the crew on Virgin were brilliant, they took care of me fantastically and then said, 'Look, we're not going to take the chance travelling across the Atlantic, we're going to drop you off'.

"So we're down in St John's Newfoundland, and have been here for ten days now I think, five days in hospital and just a few days out of hospital.

"The only downside is our bags went on to London and the only thing that we were left with was actually Martin Keown's autobiography.

"You know when things can't get any worse, you're stuck with Keown's autobiography for the duration."

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Speaking further on what happened, Pearce explained: "Yeah just my chest felt a little bit... Basically my heart rate was racing.

"So my resting heart rate from the time I was monitored on the aeroplane and for the few days in hospital, my resting heart rate was anything above 155 beats per minute.

"So it was ridiculous really, also my heart wasn't pumping enough blood around the system by all accounts and some swelling, so they give me medication for the first few days just to get that down.

"At the end of the week on Friday, they said, 'Look, we're going to stick a tube down your throat, if there's no swelling around your heart, we'll stop your heart and reboot you again'.

"So that's exactly what they did on Friday, my heart went back to a normal rate and they released me the following day.

"As luck happens, there was a pick-up truck that was outside my hospital bed window and I used the jump leads to reboot myself on the Friday!"

He added: "I just got a virus, I had a virus that just sort of attached itself to my heart that just needed clearing, rebooting and going through the process I think.

"So from what we gather, when I get home I obviously will have some medical checks there and go and see my GP and one or two other things I'm sure.

"But I feel brilliant in myself and have done since mid-last week to be honest with you, but I'm in really good hands.

"The people in the hospital have been magnificent, the people in Canada are fantastic as well and Carol, listen she looks after me on a daily basis anyway. So I'm really good, and from my point of view, fantastic."

It was initially understood that there were medically-trained passengers on the flight that helped, but Pearce said: "No, that isn't the case. I told Carol a few hours into the flight that I've got the odd chest pain here, you better give the crew a shout.

"She went and told the crew and it was the crew that were the helpful ones, they were the ones that really impressed me, how well trained they were on this Virgin flight.

"They didn't have a doctor on board so what they done is they wired me up to a cardiogram, give me some oxygen, done my pulse, blood pressure, all of those things.

"They were monitoring me up in the air, and then wiring the results down to a doctor on the ground and that doctor was the one giving them guidance in the air. So it was the crew, not passengers."

Nottingham Forest and Manchester City fans joined in for a minute's applause for Pearce during their Premier League clash on Saturday.

Both sets of supporters were heard chanting 'Psycho' in honour of the former defender who played for both clubs during his career.

'Get well soon Stuart' read a large message on the big screen at the City Ground whilst other banners of support appeared in the crowd.

Pearce added: "I can't speak highly enough I've got to say, we've had people looking after us, Carol's been brilliant looking after us, I've been fortunate enough to watch a few games.

"The Forest game against Man City was very, very humbling, I saw that and the bits and pieces that come out from that and thank you for your two messages and everybody else that sent messages of support, it is very, very humbling."

When asked about when he'll be back, Pearce said: "The insurers are just looking to organise flights at the moment. I need a medical chaperone, so I've been told, to come with us, so they're just organising that. So over the next day or so, hopefully."

Pearce kickstarted his career at non-league side Wealdstone before a move to the top flight of English football with Coventry City in 1983.

Just two years later, he signed for Forest under the legendary Brian Clough and made 522 appearances over 12 years.

He won two League Cups and two Full Members' Cups, and was named as the club's Player of the Season on three occasions.

Pearce left Forest in 1997 ahead of spells at West Ham, Newcastle United and City.

His international career is also highly regarded as he earned 78 caps with the England national team.

The defender played at three major tournaments and even scored a penalty in the quarter-final shootout win over Spain at Euro 1996.

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Pearce had a managerial spell at City before taking to the England U21s and then Great Britain for the 2012 London Olympics.

He returned to England as caretaker boss and then took the reins at Forest ahead of two assistant tenures to David Moyes at West Ham.

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