'He took off' - Leeds United fan's unique encounter chasing Marcelo Bielsa favourite
A Leeds United fan has spoken about his unique encounter with a promotion hero after chasing him for two hours on a bike.
Conor Houton took part in the Sky Bet EFL Every Minute Matters Relay last week alongside, or rather behind Stuart Dallas, to inspire fellow supporters to learn lifesaving CPR.
Conor works for Sky Bet and when he heard about the relay, in which former players, celebrities and fans covered 4,000km in 72 legs over 28 days, he knew he had to get involved due to his deeply personal connection with the subject matter. Like Dallas, whose mother died after a heart attack when he was just 10 years old, Conor lost a parent to cardiac arrest. It happened in 2019 and the now-29-year-old had to try and administer CPR, but despite his and paramedics' efforts Michael Houton passed away.
Good to talk
Conor's cousin is a mental health nurse and pulled him to one side to get him talking about what happened, but telling his story again last week ahead of a bike ride from Elland Road to Harrogate Town's ground was still a helpful and cathartic experience.
"I think it's a really, really good opportunity to talk and I think talking about something like that is really difficult for people," he told the YEP. "I think I've come to terms with it and been able to speak about it and I try to tell people about the risk that you can end up in a situation like that. I just sort of felt like I couldn't let it pass me by. It took a bit of convincing to get my mum on board. She's sort of from a generation where nobody talks about anything so I thought she might not be comfortable with potential media coverage, but I think it's been good for me and good for her, seeing what's happened being turned into a positive. I'm really glad I signed up."
Both Conor and ex-Leeds man Dallas did a round of media interviews before setting off from Elland Road last week, using their personal stories as hooks to draw the attention of as many people as possible to the idea of learning CPR. The campaign goal was to get 270,000 football fans to commit to giving up just 15 minutes to learn the life-saving skill that Dallas himself brushed up on using the reviver tool on the British Heart Foundation website.
"It's a really massive privilege to have [Dallas] involved, with his status in the city and winning a title, a player in that Marcelo Bielsa team," Conor told the YEP. "It makes me so happy he's involved, he brings so much awareness to it as well and the fact that he's telling his own story will hopefully drive more people to learn CPR as part of it."
After talking about it so much, it was time to do it. Though he did some pedalling on an exercise bike in the back bedroom of his house, Conor's fitness levels mostly come from playing Gaelic football and he wore a pair of shorts from his other favourite sport just for the occasion. Dallas admitted before they set off that his last time on a bike was during a rehab session while still going through treatment for his career-ending injury at Thorp Arch. Both considered the 33km ride to Harrogate manageable beforehand and both completed it, but Conor admits he wasn't quite up to Dallas' pace.
Chasing Dallas
"It was really good," he said. "I spent most of it sagging behind because I think I was on a worse bike than everyone else, but it was a really enjoyable, nice ride to do. It took us a couple of hours and we stopped halfway. Great day for it and nice scenery, I loved it. Stuart could quite easily come back and play for us, he's still absolutely flying. He took off at one bit like a rocket as we were climbing out towards Shadwell. We had a good catch-up before we set off and he was really sound."
Family and friends were there to greet the riders as they arrived at Harrogate Town's ground before the relay moved on. Conor's mum flew over from Ireland to join his wife Tara and kids Thomas and Maeve as part of the welcoming committee, along with some of his dad's family members.
"It sort of gave me a bit of a kick coming around the corner on the road to the stadium, you saw all the banners and it was great to see all my family there. My son was running around Harrogate Town's pitch like a madman and it was lovely to see him having a good time as well."
His hope is that the bike ride and all the media attention it garnered will have the desired effect in a real-world scenario when someone can put to use the skill in question.
"I mean even if one person learns CPR then that's enough for me," he said. "It's just spreading the word and the awareness and getting people to actually take the training course. God forbid anyone needs to use it but if they do then they're ready for it. The big thing for me was just the intimacy of the situation, where it's just you and somebody else and you're trying to save them. We're just trying to make sure that if anyone does end up in that situation they're prepared."