Jamie Harper a PUB cook passed away during a charity football game just weeks after learning he would soon become a father.
When he passed out on the field during the five-a-side game, Jamie Harper, 34, is believed to have had a heart attack.
The Castleford, West Yorks, rugby enthusiast was reportedly “so pleased” to become a father for the first time because all he wanted was to have a family.
His final words to her, according to girlfriend Leah Hayes, 24, were, “Make sure you have enough to eat for the baby.” One day, it’s going to be a powerful rugby player.
Leah, who is already a mother to four-year-old Evelyn, says they would give their child his name regardless of gender since “it’s the only option left at this point.”
After being taken to the hospital from a football game in Leeds, Wetherspoons chef Jamie passed away on Sunday. Just four days earlier, he had just moved in with Leah and was planning to adopt Evelyn.
Leah said: “She’s never had a dad so having Jamie in our lives for the last year had been great.
“He was so excited to be a dad. It’s all he’d ever wanted was to have children and have a family.
“I’d spoken to him about 11 o’clock that day. I’m diabetic and my blood sugar levels were low.
“His last words to me were ‘make sure you have something to eat for the baby, it’s going to be a strong rugby player one day. I told him to have a good day and message me when he could.”
He may have experienced a heart attack, but an autopsy will determine for sure, according to CoventryLive. His father and uncle have each endured heart attacks before.
Leah added that Jamie never complained about his health or anything related to his heart.
She added: “He was quite fit and healthy. He did the charity football game every year since he’d worked there.”
Since February, when Jamie accompanied Leah to see the local rugby team Castleford Tigers play, the two have been dating.
They took Evelyn to Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire, for her first summer vacation. “I’m very depressed. This was the happiest I’ve ever been, and it’s all been snatched away so soon,” a distraught Leah continued.
“He was the first loving man I’d ever met. He would always go out of his way to help people, no matter what.
“He was at every hospital appointment with me, he’d take my daughter to school and pick her up. He treated her like his own. He would have been an amazing dad.”
