The Havering doctor who helped save the life of footballer Fabrice Muamba has been given an award.

Dr Andrew Deaner, clinical director of acute medicine, and consultant cardiologist, for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) rushed on to the pitch after the Bolton midfielder collapsed during a game at Tottenham Hotspur in March, to help medical teams.

He was one of a team of four to receive a BBC 999 Award in a programme broadcast yesterday (Thursday).

When they collected their award, Fabrice Muamba, who had suffered cardiac arrest and his heart stopped for over an hour, said: “These guys are my heroes, you watch superhero movies (and) it’s like these guys standing there.

“They were just unbelievable, I thank every single one of them every single day.”

The football star then Tweeted a picture of him and the medical team, including Dr Deaner with the caption ‘My team’.

Spurs fan Dr Deaner recalled on the show: “I’m a cardiologist and I just happened to be at the game that day.”

In March he said: “Something sort of told me I should go down. The adrenaline starts pumping when you see a cardiac arrest.

“Looking back, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the guys there... said ‘Go away, we don’t need anybody else’.

“But the whole response to the incident had been carried out faultlessly, he said.

“If you were going to make a film to teach people how to run a complex arrest, this would have been the arrest to film because everything went as it should.

“One thing after another just went right.”

Announcing his retirement from football on medical grounds last week, Fabrice said: “While the news is devastating, I have much to be thankful for.

“I thank God that I am alive and I pay tribute once again to the members of the medical team who never gave up on me.”