Football community champions CPR with British Heart Foundation and Sky Bet's new Re-Starting 11

But she wanted to watch the football with her Dad, their beloved Sheffield Wednesday were on the television.

It turned out to be a decision that saved her Dad’s life.

For just minutes into the start of the second half, Dennis suffered a cardiac arrest and slumped in his chair.

“Mum screamed ‘Dennis’ and I turned around and straightaway knew what it was,” begins Ellie, 27.

“I jumped out of my chair, shouted ‘Mum, ring an ambulance it’s cardiac arrest’.

“I quickly tried to feel for a pulse and knew it wouldn’t be there because he’d already gone cold and waxy. I dragged him straight onto the floor and started CPR.

“Mum was screaming because no one was answering 999. It took seven minutes to get someone to ask ‘what service do you want’, it was that busy. Then when they answered the ambulance dispatcher said you need to be prepared for it being a while. It was 24 minutes before the first paramedic arrived - so I just had to keep going.”

Ellie administered CPR on her 69-year-old father for 15 minutes before counting her mother in and getting her to take over for a few minutes.

She took back over and by the time the paramedics arrived to give Dennis the one shock of electricity that brought him back to life, she had been administering CPR on her Dad for the best part of 25 minutes.

“Wednesday have been trying to kill me for years but it’s not happening,” smiles Dennis, eight months and a full football season later, the feeling that he is blessed to still be here today, obvious.

“First thing he asked when he got in the ambulance was: ‘have Wednesday won?’” smiles Ellie.

The reason Ellie and Dennis are telling this story is to help launch a new initiative between the British Heart Foundation and English Football League (EFL) sponsors Sky Bet. Their Every Minute Matters campaign is aimed at getting 270,000 people (three times the capacity of Wembley) to sign up to learn CPR via the BHF’s app in the next year.

Sky Bet are pledging up to £3m to support the BHF’s work, starting with £10,000 donated for every goal during this month’s Sky Bet Play-Offs.

The football community has suffered a number of instances of sudden cardiac arrest, not just among supporters, but players as well.

Fabrice Muamba, Charlie Wyke and David Ginola joined the Mortons at Wembley last week to launch the initiative. They have all suffered cardiac arrests while playing football and are part of the Re-Starting 11, a team of inspirational football people who have lived to tell the tale because they were lucky enough to have someone trained in CPR perform it on them to save their lives.

It would be easy to think Dennis Morton is still here because his daughter is a nurse, but the message the campaign is conveying is that anyone can administer CPR, it just takes 15 minutes to log onto the app and learn this life-saving skill.

“Yes I’m a nurse but I didn’t do anything nursey,” continues Ellie. “I did what anybody else could do. I didn’t have any special kit, I just had my hands. It’s basic training.

“It’s an easy enough thing for anybody to have a go at. If someone is in that position you cannot possibly any bad damage because there’s nothing worse that can happen.”

Another member of the football community who is hoping for plenty of goals in the play-offs from a Doncaster Rovers club she supports and works for, is Claire Bailey.

Claire has the rare misfortune of having administered CPR and then needed it herself.

“In January 2022 I had my refresher course at the stadium and at the end of March I had to give CPR to my husband,” begins Claire, who despite her best efforts, couldn’t save husband Richard’s life.

“You look back and wonder did I do it right but I had five paramedics come in my house and they pumped hard on his chest.

“You’re always a bit unsure what you’re doing.“I remember my husband even told me if it ever happens to me just pump my chest as hard as you can. But he was unresponsive. They found a pulse at hospital but he passed away a few minutes later.

"Turns out he’d got bowel cancer and abdominal sepsis as well.”

That’s another key message these footballers were conveying at Wembley - press as hard as you can because you can’t do any worse damage than is already being done.

In a cruel twist of fate Claire needed CPR herself 16 months later. Where for some people sudden cardiac arrest creeps up on them, Claire had been feeling short of breath and was in hospital having tests when she suddenly collapsed.

After undergoing a heart transplant last September she made a phased return to work at Doncaster last month.

“I think it’s just fantastic that the football community has got involved,” says Claire, whose Rovers team play Crewe Alexandra in the Sky Bet EFL League Two play-off semi-final on Monday and Friday this week. “The more we can spread the word about learning CPR the more lives we can save.

“So come on Doncaster Rovers, score us lots of goals.”