Rangers idol Nacho Novo ordered to wear ‘guardian angel’ defibrillator vest by doctors after heart attack hell
The Gers legend's girlfriend, Stephanie Heaney, 33, hailed the life-saving kit that had eased her worries as she tries to help the footie ace recover at home
HEART attack footie ace Nacho Novo revealed docs have ordered him to wear a defibrillator vest.
The strap-on kit can deliver electric shocks to the Rangers idol, 38, if his ticker conks out again.
Novo said: “It could save my life.”
And his relieved girlfriend says her fella’s life-saving vest is like having a medic on standby around the clock.
Stephanie Heaney, 33, branded the gadget a “guardian angel” that had eased her worries as she helps the Rangers legend battle back from his heart attack scare at home.
But the model revealed the £3,000 device — which sounds an alert when it senses health problems and can zap troubled tickers — had caused her some anxious moments since Novo was handed it.
Stricken Rangers idol Nacho Novo reveals he KEPT on running during footie match despite having a heart attack
Stephanie said: “Wearing the vest is like having a medic with you all the time. It’s like Nacho’s wee guardian angel.
“The alarm has gone off three times, which was scary, but in a way it was also reassuring.
“It told us his heart wasn’t doing what it was supposed to and that allowed us to react.
“Luckily, he was OK but if it had gone off repeatedly, he’d have had to go to hospital.
“If your heart starts to beat out of sync, that’s when it becomes dangerous.”
Novo, 38, was given the LifeVest after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a legends tournament in Berlin, Germany, last month.
The device, made by medical firm Zoll, resembles a bra and is worn 24/7 by vulnerable heart patients.
The Spanish ace is only allowed to remove it for a few moments each day to shower.
The rest of the time, the gizmo — attached to a monitor around the waist — is hidden under his clothes, where it constantly checks his heartbeat.
Its alarm blares if it senses something is wrong but patients can give themselves the all-clear by pressing two response buttons.
If they don’t, a built-in defibrillator will deliver a potentially life-saving electric shock.
Novo, who was ordered to wear the kit for six weeks, said it had also given him added peace of mind through a period of recovery dubbed the “danger zone”.
He said: “It gives me a feeling of extra security and makes being out of hospital a little less stressful.
"It’s a worrying and scary time after a heart attack and the LifeVest gives me extra protection.”
The Ibrox favourite spent three weeks in hospital, including a stint in intensive care, in Germany.
When he was finally given the green light by doctors to return to their Glasgow pad, Novo opted to fly undercover to dodge unwanted stress and attention.
But a cardiac specialist carrying oxygen and a medical kit accompanied the striker and his lover on their journey home.
The retired icon admitted: “I was anxious about flying as you don’t have access to the same medical attention when you’re in the air.
“I was worried in case something happened to me.”
Stephanie revealed they were almost grounded in Berlin when Novo confessed to feeling ill before boarding their flight.
She said: “The specialist checked Nacho head to toe before he was allowed to fly. He wasn’t feeling great so it was touch and go for a bit whether we’d be able to board the plane.
“During our trip home, he wore a hat and kept it really low so people didn’t recognise him. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
“I wheeled him through the airport in Germany and in Heathrow, then he got wheelchair assistance in Glasgow.
"My uncle was waiting outside in the car to pick us up.”
Doctors are set to review whether Novo is fit enough to ditch the specialist kit at a check-up this week.
The striker’s heart was working at less than 30 per cent when he took ill, but it has now improved to around 40 per cent.
A normal heart operates at 50 to 60 per cent.
None of Novo’s blips since his scare last month have been life-threatening.
Stephanie added: “In the past couple of weeks, Nacho has come on in leaps and bounds.
"But I still feel very protective and find it hard to leave him on his own.”
We told yesterday how dad-of-one Novo feared he would die after falling ill during the AOK-Traditionsmasters clash with Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin.
He signed up to the five-a-side tournament along with fellow former Gers stars including Andy Goram and Michael Mols.
Novo, who also starred for Raith Rovers and Dundee, remained oblivious to his trauma.
He told how he assumed the heat and a winter bug were causing him to feel out of breath on the pitch — and carried on playing.
But he was whisked away in a waiting ambulance for a blue lights dash to hospital in the Pankow district of the German capital for life-saving surgery.
Novo — dad to son Javier, eight — had two stents inserted to keep his arteries open as frantic Stephanie jetted out to be at his bedside.
Team gaffer and Nine-in-a-Row hero John ‘Bomber’ Brown — described as a “father figure” by Novo — kept vigil until she arrived.
The mum of two, who had been battling a viral infection which she had passed to Novo, later realised she had unwittingly watched his trauma live on YouTube from her sick bed in Glasgow.
She spotted her man wincing after racing in for a sliding tackle but assumed he hurt his leg.
She told us: “It’s hard to look at the footage now and understand you are witnessing the moment it happened.
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“I saw him wincing and I said to my uncle ‘He’s hurt his knee or something’.
“Later, the doctor said that Nacho probably had his heart attack on the pitch.”
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