EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: 'I was clinically dead on the pitch before the people who came on saved my life,' says former Hamilton star Ross McCabe. 'But it didn't stop me wanting to play football again.'
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So, what happens after you die? This existential question is answered simply in the case of Ross McCabe. You play Junior football. ‘I was saved on the park after a cardiac arrest and I was desperate to get back. I went on to play more than 400 games,’ he says, taking a sip of his coffee in a Glasgow shopping centre.
![[Despite his ordeal, McCabe went on to play Junior football, most notably for Petershill]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/18/93526127-0-Despite_his_ordeal_McCabe_went_on_to_play_Junior_football_most_n-m-28_1735325076464.jpg)
This is all stated in tones normally reserved for banal observations about the weather. The McCabe story thus needs some elaboration. On Saturday, September 9, 2006, McCabe, then 18, was playing for Hamilton Academical against Clyde. ‘I remember it all very clearly,’ he says. ‘I slide-tackled Dougie Imrie and he tried to jump over me and kicked my neck. A complete accident. I can remember him standing over me complaining about my challenge. I remember then waking up in the ambulance.
![[McCabe (No 9) leaps up to score winner for Petershill in Scottish Junior Cup tie with Lochee]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/18/93526125-0-McCabe_No_9_leaps_up_to_score_winner_for_Petershill_in_Scottish_-m-27_1735325059816.jpg)
‘I thought I was winded when I was lying on the park,’ says McCabe. ‘I tried to get up and then was out of it. I was in cardiac arrest for four minutes. They told me I was clinically dead because my heart stopped. People ask me: “How did it feel?”. It is strange. I can’t remember any great pain beyond the impact. But the people who came on saved my life. That simple.’.
![[McCabe, centre, celebrates his 300th appearance for Petershill]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/18/93526121-0-image-m-30_1735325116921.jpg)
The time between tackle and ambulance was critical. Players immediately realised there was something desperately wrong. There were anguished shouts towards the touchline. There were pieces of good fortune that prevented the ultimate tragedy. One of the Clyde officials was a cardiologist. Physios at both clubs could use a defibrillator and there was one available. And it was a senior match.
![[His heart stopped twice during Accies-Clyde match but he was back playing two years later]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/18/93526145-0-image-a-31_1735325201540.jpg)
