Former Newcastle United and England defender Stuart Pearce insists he feels "brilliant in myself" as he offered a positive update following his recent health scare.
The ex-Nottingham Forest defender experienced chest pains while flying home from the United States last week, with five days in hospital in Canada following an emergency landing. The 62-year-old is now looking to head back to the UK and has revealed what was the cause of the scare.
"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," he told talkSPORT. "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."
Pearce has thanked the staff of the Virgin Atlantic crew who came to his aid mid-air, while liaising with medical staff on the ground. He had been flying back from Las Vegas after watching rugby league side Warrtington take on Wigan in the stateside Super League clash.
"They're the ones who really impressed me how well trained they were," he added. "My heart rate was racing, my resting heart rate from the time I was monitored on the airplane and the few days in hospital was anything above 155 beats a minute.
"Also my heart wasn't pumping enough blood around the system by all accounts and there was some swelling, so they gave me some medication the first few days just to get that down.
"At the end of the week they said look, we're going to stick a tube down your throat and if there's no swelling around your heart we'll stop your heart and reboot it 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."
There has been an outpouring of support for Pearce throughout the football community, notably on Saturday when a big screen message was displayed when two of his old sides - Forest and Manchester City - went head to head at the City Ground. It's something the England legend has been moved by, and he was quick to thank fans for their messages, including messages from Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
"It was incredibly humbling," Pearce said. "It was really nice to hear Nuno's message as well and that I am part of their family and my history with the club dictates that. Fantastically humbling it really was but it's what I expect from that football club, they're incredible."
Pearce made 52 appearances for Newcastle in a two-year spell on Tyneside after leaving Forest in 1997. He won 78 caps for England in a 12-year international career, scoring five times for his country.
