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Ronnie Sharp thanks paramedics as Nairn County boss details heart attack ordeal

Nairn County manager Ronnie Sharp.
Nairn County manager Ronnie Sharp.

Ronnie Sharp considers himself one of the fortunate ones.

The Nairn County manager, who suffered a heart attack last month, knows circumstances could have been different had he not made one crucial decision.

Sharp had been feeling tired and had indigestion-like symptoms for a while. He put it down to returning to work as a roofer after a period off during lockdown.

Thursday May 20 proved to be unlike any other day. Sharp had gone to work but soon started to feel unwell.

The choice he made to take himself home appears now to be a pivotal one. He collapsed at his home in Nairn, where his partner Kathleen was on hand to call for an ambulance.

“If I’d been on a roof I don’t know what would have happened,” said Sharp. “That was the big thing. Because I decided to go home, I knew there was something more to it. I got home just in time. Thank God I did.

“I was just about to get up on a roof. I’d had indigestion off and on for a while and then pain really started. I decided to go home.

“I started to sweat, the dizziness came and I just collapsed. Luckily enough my partner was there and she phoned the ambulance straight away.

“When you’re taken in and seen to straight away, you’re delighted that they’re sorting it out. You don’t have any real time to think about it.

“The paramedics were excellent, I can’t thank them enough. Same as the cardiology team and the nurses. They make you feel totally at ease and explain everything that’s going on. I’m probably lucky.”

Sharp underwent two procedures to have two stents fitted and was discharged five days later from Raigmore Hospital.

There was an understandable lack of confidence at first, as to how he would be once he returned home. The 55-year-old admits health concerns were not something he used to pay too much attention to until his own scare.

“I’d been tired for a while, feeling pretty exhausted after work. I was putting that down to being off in lockdown and then going back to work. Obviously it wasn’t.

Ronnie Sharp (right) with coaches Stuart Finnie (left) and Brian Macleod during Nairn County's pre-season training. Picture by Kenny Macleod.
Ronnie Sharp (right) with coaches Stuart Finnie (left) and Brian Macleod during Nairn County’s pre-season training. Picture by Kenny Macleod.

“I didn’t get myself checked out, which was a big mistake. Thankfully I’m still here.

“I would advise people to get themselves checked out, if there’s any sort of problem. I was one of these men who keeps thinking it’s nothing serious.

“I thought I was pretty fit. My job kept me fit. I don’t think there’s any rhyme or reason to why it happened. My diet is good, I don’t smoke and I don’t really drink anymore.

“There’s heart disease in my family but from speaking to the cardiologists, sometimes it’s just one of these things. I don’t think you can ever put it down to one thing.”

The biggest doubt at present surrounds his work – Sharp does not know if he will continue as a roofer, with his own business, after this.

He has been back at Station Park, however, and expects to be in the dugout for the start of the new season. Assistant Mike Rae and under-20s coach Brian Macleod had been in interim charge of the side will Sharp recovered but he has been back to training recently.

Ronnie Sharp on the touchline during a Nairn County game.
Ronnie Sharp on the touchline during a Nairn County game.

“It’s not heavy work – they’d just advised me not to be lifting anything so I was back up taking bits of it. But it was more for exercise, to get out and about.

“It’s just about getting more confident in what you can do. I’ll do more and more as I go along; I was nervous to start with when I came out but that’s natural.

“I’m not as stressed on the sidelines as some of the managers but I’m not as relaxed as some others. We’ll just see how it goes.

“I really enjoy it so it’s one thing I’ve really looked forward to. I’ll be in charge for the start of the season – I should be fine for that.”