Former Premier League captain who had a heart attack on the field encourages fans to use hydration breaks to help save lives.
Tom Lockyer, the former captain of Luton Town, is backing a British Heart Foundation (BHF) campaign that asks fans to use the World Cup hydration breaks to help save lives.
The BHF’s new campaign points out a serious fact: every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from heart and blood vessel diseases. In a 90-minute football match, about 30 people lose their lives to heart attacks, strokes, and similar conditions—more than the number of players in England’s World Cup squad. Over the 39-day tournament, nearly 19,000 people in the UK are expected to die from these illnesses, many too soon.
With two three-minute breaks in this World Cup, the BHF invites fans to use that time to do something important: donate to support research that brings hope to millions of families worldwide.
Through fun social media videos and alternate match commentary, ambassadors Lockyer and Charlie Wyke encourage everyone watching to turn these “three minutes to kill” into three minutes that could save lives by giving to the BHF.
Lockyer knows how precious time is. After he had a cardiac arrest during a Premier League game in 2023 and received a heart device called an ICD, he became a BHF ambassador to raise awareness about heart disease. He said, “People think of these breaks as ‘three minutes to kill,’ but every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from heart disease. This isn’t wasted time; it’s a chance to make a difference by donating.”
Charlie Wyke, another player who survived a cardiac arrest in 2021, agrees. Thanks to quick CPR and an ICD, he’s still playing and now helps spread the message. He said, “Heart disease can hit anyone—on the pitch, in the stands, or at home. More than eight million people in the UK live with it, and every one of them has a family hoping for more time. These three-minute breaks are a small but powerful chance to help save lives by donating.”
The campaign also shares exciting research funded by BHF, like the work of Professor Charalambos Antoniades at Oxford. He’s created CaRi-Heart®, an AI tool that predicts heart attack risk up to 10 years in advance by checking for inflammation in heart arteries from CT scans. This helps doctors catch problems early and prevent heart attacks.
Dr. Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive of the BHF, said, “Every three minutes, a family in the UK loses someone to heart disease. Through ‘Three Minutes to Kill,’ we’re turning a game pause into a life-saving moment. Football brings people together, so we’re asking fans to donate during these breaks. Their support can fund vital research, from AI tools to new treatments that improve lives today.”
She added, “When the game stops, don’t just wait for play to restart—donate to the BHF. In just three minutes, fans can help fund the discoveries that keep hearts beating and give people more precious time with their loved ones.”
The BHF encourages fans to donate from £3 during the hydration breaks to support future life-saving research.
Remember: every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from heart disease. Use your next three-minute break to donate at bhf.org.uk/3minutes and help save more lives.