Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
Gary Neville has opened up about a terrifying moment when he feared for his life, believing he was having a heart attack while on a plane. Since retiring from his football career with Manchester United and England, the 49-year-old has embarked on a successful broadcasting career and various other ventures both within and outside of the sport.
He's been a staple on Sky Sports' Premier League coverage since 2011, aside from his brief tenure as manager of La Liga club Valencia, and in addition to his media work, Neville has also built a business empire, developing properties such as Hotel Football near Old Trafford, launching University Academy 92 nearby, and becoming majority shareholder of local club Salford City.
His unparalleled work ethic is frequently praised by his former team-mates and colleagues. However, he revealed this can be a double-edged sword, as he experienced what he believed was going to be a fatal heart attack due to overworking himself.
Related articles Gary Neville admits purchase which cost a fortune and made him feel a 'w****r' Gary Neville launches strong accusations at Premier League over 'scaremogering'Appearing on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast alongside wife Emma, Neville recalled: "I knew there was something wrong. I've never experienced anxiety in my life. I didn't even know what it was. But I actually stopped a plane coming back from America.
function loadOvpScript(){let el=document.createElement('script');el.setAttribute('src','https://live.primis.tech/live/liveView.php?s=114291&vp_content=plembed3e7arguyxmsj&cbuster=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&playerApiId=v114291');document.getElementById('ovp-primis').appendChild(el)} window.top.addEventListener('primisPlayerInit',e=>{try{if(e.detail&&e.detail.playerApiId==="v114291"){if(window.document.getElementsByClassName('jwplayer')[0]){e.detail.float('disable')}}}catch(e){}});window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',()=>{setTimeout(()=>{if(typeof flagTcfLoaded!=='undefined'&&flagTcfLoaded===!0){loadOvpScript() ExpressApp.Log('[Load] OVP flagTcfLoaded',new Date())}else{document.addEventListener("tcfLoaded",()=>{loadOvpScript() ExpressApp.Log('[Load] OVP tcfLoaded',new Date())})}},1500)})"I was flying back from Miami and I was sat on the front of this plane and I knew that I'd obviously pushed myself over the previous couple of months. And I was literally thinking 'I'm going to have a heart attack'. I felt like I was literally going to die.
"I said to the steward 'I'm going to have to get off'. I stopped the plane, got off and stayed in America for an extra night, my bag got taken off the plane and I thought 'this is not right, you need to calm down a little bit' and I think I have done since."
Neville is relentlessly working both on TV and behind the scenes (Image: Getty) Trending window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20240917.min.js"Neville confessed he finds it challenging to take breaks, with his "mini-retirements" quip earning him ridicule during an episode of Stephen Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast. He recounted another frightful incident which prompted him to reassess his lifestyle.
"I'm not very good at that at all, and I think people around me will regularly tell me, including Emma, that I need to relax and calm down," he continued. "Two or three years ago I had a little incident, it was like a fit basically.
"I had a football match and I had some tests done and they just said 'you need to calm down a little bit and do different things'. And that's where I came up with 'mini-retirements', weekends away."
Neville credited wife Emma for helping to calm his hectic life down (Image: Getty) SUBSCRIBE Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
To avoid another scary situation like his plane ordeal, Neville has developed a coping strategy aimed at achieving a healthier work-life balance. He elaborated: "It's really crazy because I need an itinerary in my life.
"So I know on October 14 - we've just had our break for three weeks, last week I was away filming, so it was the first week back after the summer, and I'm already looking forward to October 14 when I know that we're going away for three or four days. So for me I always have to think about those next six weeks.
"I know next week I'm away working for four days, three days in America the week after. I know that I'm going to be manic for a period of time and I need to put those moments in, so I think about those moments more now but I'm not very good at it all, Emma's much better at it."
Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
Gary Neville thought he was going to die as he reveals scary plane incident
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