NFL

Bettis fumble was nearly a killer for fan

50-year-old suffers heart attack after RB's gaffe, but is saved by firefighters

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Steelers running back Jerome Bettis had plenty of reason to smile after Sunday's game, after his late fumble didn't result in disaster.

updated 4:45 p.m. ET Jan. 17, 2006

PITTSBURGH - Talk about a heart-stopping game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts.

Terry O'Neill, 50, of Pittsburgh, was watching the game at a bar and had a heart attack seconds after Jerome Bettis fumbled trying to score from the 2-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger prevented the Colts' Nick Harper from returning the recovered ball for a touchdown and the Steelers hung on for a 21-18 win.

O'Neill said Bettis is his hero.

"I wasn't upset that the Steelers might lose," he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I was upset because I didn't want to see him end his career like that. A guy like that deserves better. I guess it was a little too much for me to handle."

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O'Neill, who was recovering at a hospital, credits two firefighters with saving him.

"The Steelers won the game and I'm still alive, so I guess I'm doing pretty good," he said.

He will have a pacemaker implanted to control an irregular heartbeat and he was prescribed medication to deal with the hypertension.

While he would like to go to the bar Sunday for the game against the Denver Broncos to thank the guys who saved him, O'Neill said, "I guess I should probably take it easy and watch the game at home."