A FOOTBALL coach who suffers from a rare heart condition is having his head shaved to raise funds for charity.

Jock Campbell, 47, who lives in Pickering, was born with a hole in the heart and underwent surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital when he was three months old.

He said: “I was fitted with a pacemaker when I was 24 and now I have the defibrillator which gives me a shock if my heart starts to beat too fast to help normalise it. I also need to go for regular check-ups.”

Jock suffered a cardiac arrest in February 2016, while watching his football team, Pickering Under 15s, play away to Elm Park in York.

He said: “I felt my heart racing and turned to my friends and colleagues to say I didn’t feel well. They thought I was joking and with that I collapsed on the floor and blacked out.”

He was given CPR and taken to York Hospital and then on to Leeds General for three weeks.

He went on to raise funds for a defibrillator at Ryedale Sports Club in Pickering, where Jock’s football clubs play.

Jock is now aiming to raising money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to enable them to carry out research.

“The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK, but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives,” he said.

“It’s only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures.

“£24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist. but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target.”

Jock will be having his head shaved by Clare Woodhead, on April 28, from 6pm at the Wine Bar in Pickering.

To sponsor Jock, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/jock-campbell