Middlesbrough team doctor helps save fan at Blackburn Rovers game

Tom Prichard and medics from both clubs went into the stands to help the Rovers fan

A football team doctor has helped save the life of a second fan who fell ill while watching his team this season.

The Championship game between Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough at Ewood Park on Monday was stopped for nine minutes after a home supporter required help.

Boro's Dr Tom Prichard, who is also an A&E consultant, and the team's physios raced to help the fan in the Jack Walker stand, near the away dug-out.

In October, Dr Prichard helped to save a fan during a Newcastle United game.

The game at Ewood Park, which Rovers won 1-0, was stopped after Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder alerted the referee to the emergency.

Fans took to social media to praise Wilder's actions and the speedy response of Dr Prichard and physios Chris Moseley and Adam Reed, who leapt over advertising hoardings in order to get to the fan quickly.

Play was halted for nine minutes to allow the medical staff to help the fan

Speaking after the game, Rovers manager Tony Mowbray said what happened "was mentioned in the dressing room and the whole team were asking after him".

"This club is a very caring club about the community and we'll be doing everything we can to support the gentleman and his family and we wish him well."

Thanking the Boro staff in a statement, a Blackburn Rovers spokesman said the fan was in a stable condition in hospital.

He said the away side's team were "first on the scene and able to restart the gentleman's breathing".

He said the Boro staff were then joined by Rovers' medics and "the crowd doctor".

"After regaining consciousness, the supporter was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he is alert and stable," he added.

"Our thoughts remain with him and his family... and we hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery."

Dr Prichard's other employer, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said it was "proud" to see him "demonstrating the best values of the NHS once again".

The scenes on Monday night scenes echoed those at Newcastle United's game against Spurs in October, when play stopped for 20 minutes.

Dr Prichard, who is a Newcastle season ticket holder, was among the medics who performed CPR and used a defibrillator before paramedics arrived to take 80-year-old Alan George Smith to hospital.