I'm lucky to be here, says Clarke

Leicester defender Clive Clarke said that he feels lucky to be alive after collapsing at half-time during a game at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Clarke, 27, was admitted to hospital after collapsing during the interval of the Carling Cup tie.

"I know I am extremely fortunate to be here," said Clarke.

"In the light of recent events involving footballers who have suffered heart attacks, I am the real lucky one, because I have survived."

The match at the City Ground was abandoned and will now be played on Tuesday 18 September.

Clarke's agent Gary Mellor said the player was treated with a defibrillator in the dressing-room.

Clarke, on loan at Leicester from Sunderland, had regained consciousness by the time he was taken to the nearby Queens Medical Centre in an ambulance.

And Clarke added: "I remember feeling a bit lethargic on the field in the first half, and I was involved in a collision with our goalkeeper Paul Henderson, which led to their goal.

"I sat quietly in a corner of the dressing room and felt a bit queasy. I can recall Patrick Kisnorbo talking to me, but it wasn't really registering. Then I just passed out.

"When I was told what had happened, the blood drained from my body. I just thought I could have been dead, and that I might never have seen my family again.

"When you think about Sevilla player Antonio Puerta (who collapsed last Saturday and died on Tuesday), it goes without saying that a day won't pass when I don't cherish every moment in my life."