A FOOTBALLER was brought back to life by his best friend after his heart stopped twice on the pitch.

Gareth Handy, 22, had no idea he had the same heart condition which killed international star Marc-Vivien Foe until he collapsed during a local league match and swallowed his tongue.

Teammates watched in horror as he started fitting and foaming at the mouth, but his friend Mark Wallis rushed over and pumped his chest as he waited for paramedics.

The undetected heart problem is the same as one that killed 28-year-old Manchester City star Foe during an international game for Cameroon in 2003.

Mr Handy, a pipe fitter from Concord, Washington, Wearside, fell to his knees 15 minutes into the game last Sunday.

He will now undergo corrective surgery for his heart defect.

His mother, Rosie, 42, said yesterday: "I thought I'd lost him. This whole thing has been the worst experience of my life but now I've got my baby back and it's all because of Mark.

"In the hospital, it was like looking at my son's dead body but then I felt him squeeze my hand and saw his eye flicker."

Mr Handy was lining up for the Washington Wetherspoon's team against Low Fell Beaconsfield in the Stanley and District League when he collapsed.

Mr Wallis, also 22, is a barman from Birtley, near Gateshead, and knew basic first aid.

He said: "Gareth sunk on to his face and the referee turned round and saw him on his front, shaking.

"When we turned him round, there was foam coming out of his mouth and he had swallowed his tongue."

He added: "I started pressing his chest, but then I noticed his heart had stopped, but I just kept going until the paramedics got there."