GERS TRAGEDY
Former Rangers and Scotland goalie Stewart Kennedy in mourning after wife dies on flight home from Spain
The plane made an emergency landing in Portugal but tragically medics could not save her
FORMER Rangers and Scotland goalie Stewart Kennedy is in mourning after his wife died on a flight home from Spain.
Stewart, who played for the Light Blues in the 1970s, and Elaine, both 75, had spent five weeks on Lanzarote when tragedy struck on their return journey to Scotland.
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The plane diverted to Lisbon where shattered Stewart was met by Portuguese emergency services, but they couldn’t save her.
He then waited three weeks for her body to be returned to their home in Kincardine, Fife before she was finally laid to rest earlier this week.
The former Ibrox stopper, who won league titles in 1975 ad 1978, said: “We’d been going to Lanzarote for a few years for a five-week break and there was no indication there was anything wrong.
“She got up to go to the toilet and when she came back, she seemed to be staggering.
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“A call was put out for a doctor or nurse, and she was laid out on the floor and the next thing her head flopped to one side.
“They tried CPR as the plane diverted to Lisbon and when we landed there a medical team worked on her for over an hour, but they told me ‘I’m sorry Mr Kennedy, we can’t re-start her heart’.
“I’m convinced she was dead as soon as she fell.
“The one blessing is that she didn’t know anything about it and didn’t suffer at all.
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“It’s been horrendous because there was no clue that she had any problems.”
Initially Stewart, who was also capped five times by Scotland, stayed in the Portuguese capital but was advised to travel home as there was nothing he could do.
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The British Embassy became involved, but it still took three weeks before Elaine’s body was repatriated.
Stewart added: “I still need some more information because the cause of death is not clear on the certificate.
“That’s something I’m looking into.
“She had a hip replacement last year, but she didn’t have any bother after that.
“That’s why we’re all so shocked at what happened.
“As I say, the one saving grace is that she didn’t know a thing about it.”
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