‘Loving’ dad-to-be, 34, collapsed and died at charity football match weeks after learning he would be a father
A PUB chef has died during a charity football match weeks after discovering he was going to be a dad.
Jamie Harper, 34, is thought to have suffered a heart attack when he collapsed on the pitch during the five-a-side game.
The rugby fanatic, of Castleford, West Yorks, was said to be “so excited” at becoming a first-time dad because all he wanted was to have a family.
Girlfriend Leah Hayes, 24, added his last words to her were: “Make sure you have something to eat for the baby. It's going to be a strong rugby player one day.”
Leah, already a mum to four-year-old Evelyn, plans to name their kid after him regardless of its gender, adding: “It’s the only choice now.”
Wetherspoons chef Jamie was airlifted to hospital from the football match in Leeds and died shortly after on Sunday. He moved in with Leah just four days before and was going to adopt Evelyn.
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Leah said: "She's never had a dad so having Jamie in our lives for the last year had been great.
“He was so excited to be a dad. It's all he'd ever wanted was to have children and have a family.
"I'd spoken to him about 11 o'clock that day. I'm diabetic and my blood sugar levels were low.
"His last words to me were 'make sure you have something to eat for the baby, it's going to be a strong rugby player one day. I told him to have a good day and message me when he could."
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It is thought he had a heart attack but an autopsy is due to confirm, reports. His dad and uncle have both previously survived heart attacks.
And Jamie never complained of health issues or anything to do with his heart, Leah said.
She added: "He was quite fit and healthy. He did the charity football game every year since he'd worked there."
Jamie and Leah had been together since February, when he took her to see local rugby team Castleford Tigers play.
They took Evelyn on her first summer holiday to Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire. Heartbroken Leah added: "I'm so depressed. This was the happiest I'd ever been and it's all been taken away so quickly.
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"He was the first loving man I'd ever met. He would always go out of his way to help people, no matter what.
"He was at every hospital appointment with me, he'd take my daughter to school and pick her up. He treated her like his own. He would have been an amazing dad."
