A NEWPORT County fan was brought “back to life” by a quick-thinking police officer after suffering a suspected heart attack while on the way to a game.

Lifelong supporter Gerald Evans was on his way to the ground for the away game at Torquay on Saturday when he started to have breathing difficulties and collapsed.

The 55-year-old, who has a history of heart problems, suffered a suspected heart attack to the horror of his nephew, Mark Avery.

The 39-year-old, who is also an avid County fan, said he could do nothing as he watched his uncle “die in my arms”. He couldn’t find a pulse and saw his uncle wasn’t breathing.

But a Gwent Police officer, who had travelled to the game with the County fans as an escort, wasted no time and began to administer CPR and mouth-to-mouth, eventually bringing Mr Evans “back to life”.

Both Mr Evans and his nephew said they wished to heap praise on the “remarkable” actions of PC Matthew Screen, which they said they are sure had “saved his life”.

Mr Avery said: “I literally can’t thank him enough. I watched my uncle die in my arms. He was gone as far as I was concerned. It was the scariest thing. But he brought him back. It was incredible.”

Mr Evans, a Newport County fan since his first game in 1969, was rushed to Torbay Hospital and monitored for 24 hours; missing the Exiles secure a vital 1-0 win and end a barren run of form. He said: “It wasn’t quite the away day I was expecting. We were joking once we got to the hospital about being County till I die, literally. But Mark kept me updated with the scores and I just thought ‘thank god for that’ when he told me that we had won.”

From Stockton Road, St Julian’s, Mr Evans has been given the all clear by his doctor and told to take it easy. But he aims to be at his beloved County’s next game against Portsmouth on Saturday where he hopes to meet PC Screen and thank him for what he did.