Former Hearts manager Jim Jefferies claims he died for 20 seconds in the ambulance as he was rushed to hospital following a heart attack while playing golf.

The Scottish football legend collapsed at Gullane with a serious heart problem on Monday.

Now the ex-Kilmarnock and Dunfermline leader has thanked the medics who saved his life.

He told Edinburgh Evening News: "I died for 20 seconds but I was in the right place because these people knew what to do and they were absolutely brilliant as I blacked out.

"I would like to say how grateful I am to the paramedics and all the people in the cath lab at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and all the wonderful medical staff.

"I was always confident I was going to pull through. But there was a moment when I thought to myself, 'I hope I'm going to survive this', but I always had confidence in the paramedics.

"They were always talking to me and telling me 'you're doing so well'.

"I was out of it but they are trained to expect that kind of thing, they brought me back and they stayed with me right to the end."