BRIGHTON and Hove Albion's stadium is the safest in the world to have a cardiac arrest, according to figures.

Four people have fallen ill at the American Express Community Stadium in Falmer since it opened in 2011 and all four have survived following treatment by the club's safety and stewarding team.

The odds of all four surviving is a massive one in 160,000 but the quartet have gone on to have no ill-effects or brain damage.

The ground has eight heart-starting defibrillators donated to the club by the Sussex Heart Charity and its safety and stewarding team consists of St John Ambulance staff, South East Coast Ambulance Service medics and club crowd doctor and A&E consultant Rob Galloway

A recent survivor was Richard Stubbs, who collapsed on a bus after the 1-0 win against Wolves in October.

The emergency team carried on with the CPR and used a defibrillator to shock Mr Stubbs’ heart five times before it started going again.

After about 15 minutes Mr Stubbs came round and he was conscious when he arrived at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where a stent was fitted.

He has also now been given his own internal defibrillator to stop the same thing happening again and is recovering well, following the incident in October.

The 62-year-old from Bognor recently returned to the club to meet the team who saved his life.

Dr Galloway said: “We got a call saying someone had gone into cardiac arrest and we got there as fast as we could.

“It was a great effort by the team.

“What made us smile is that when Mr Stubbs came round on the bus, his first question was whether the result of the game was still 1-0.

"Our success is down to careful planning and ensuring all the right people and equipment is available."

These incidents also highlight why knowing about defibrillators and doing CPR is so important. It is something anyone can learn, including schoolchildren, and can make all the difference between life and death.

Mr Stubbs said: “I remember sitting on the bus and then the next thing I knew I wasn’t there. I’d gone to wherever people go.

“These wonderful people managed to sort me out, get me dealt with and bring me back to life.

“I can only say thanks to everyone, it means so much to me.

“I’ve still got an awful long way to go, I hope, in my life and without what they did, I wouldn’t be here any more. It was just marvellous.”