Nottingham Forest great Stuart Pearce was rushed to hospital after needing medical attention on an airplane. The 62-year-old was heading back to the UK on Monday after jetting out to watch his beloved Warrington Wolves play Wigan Warriors in a historic Las Vegas Super League game.
However, while on his way home to London Heathrow, Pearce, who made 552 appearances for Forest as a player and managed 32 matches during his time in the dugout, suffered chest pains.
Pearce was attended to on the flight and crew organisers made the decision to redivert the plane to St. John's International Airport in Canada for him to get medical attention. Once the plane landed at the closest available airport, medics rushed on board and took the ex-England international to hospital.
He is now in hospital - alongside his partner - recovering. The remaining passengers were later flown to Heathrow, arriving at 6.15pm on Monday evening - six hours later than planned.
Pearce had been scheduled to speak at Christ The King Parish Centre in Coventry last night. However, the venue said that "due to unforeseen circumstances" he had been replaced by ex-England teammate John Barnes.
A regular broadcaster for talkSPORT and Amazon Prime, the last game Pearce covered before his trip to Las Vegas was the Premier League meeting between Everton and Manchester United on Saturday, February 22.
Pearce enjoyed a historic 12 years as a player at Forest. He joined the club from Coventry City in 1985 and then immediately became a fans' favourite. Pearce spent most of his time at The Reds as club captain and ended up winning the League Cup twice - as well as the Full Members' Cup twice.
His career with England was also memorable. He was capped 78 times, scoring five times, for his country and played in a number of major tournaments. Notably, Pearce missed a penalty for the Three Lions and the 1990 World Cup during their semi-final shootout defeat against West Germany.
Six years later, at Euro '96, Pearce went on a redemption arc by scoring from 12 yards as England beat Spain on penalties and reach the semi-final of that tournament.