Leeds nostalgia: This week in 1981... Richard '˜Lionheart' Brightmore makes history by becoming youngest to wear pacemaker aged just seven days old
He was pictured with his mother, Patricia, 29, at Killingbeck Hospital. Richard weighed in at 6lb 3oz when born but was already 7lb by the time of the operation.
When he was born at Staincliffe Hospital, Dewsbury, doctors declared him stillborn as there was no pulse but then one of them detected a small movement in his arm and he was rushed to a specialist unit.
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Hide AdRichard went on to be a pupil of Victoria Primary and Morley High School and went on to gain a degree in Geography and Transport Planning at the University of Leeds.
We caught up with him in 2008 when he married his fiance, Leanne Denton.
Pat, who was then living in Morley, said: “The story went all over the world, with newspapers calling him ‘Richard the Lionheart’.
“It wasn’t until I was in labour we knew something was wrong.
When he was born, the umbilical cord was around his neck and they confirmed a stillbirth, then he started to move.”