'Doctors said it was a cold. We knew it was worse': Ex-Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers man Jack Sparkes opens up on daughter's heart condition
Two-year-old Lily was diagnosed with a heart condition after her family refused to believe doctors
Minty the Cocker Spaniel was far too engrossed in chasing a tennis ball to acknowledge the unwanted attention in her slipstream.
With a giggling toddler in stubborn pursuit across Bude beach’s sun-bleached sands, Jack Sparkes and partner Abbie smiled at the creation of a precious family souvenir.
For a year they had knocked on doors, pleading with a procession of doctors that daughter Lily’s tiredness and relentless bouts of colds and coughs represented something more concerning. No-one listened.
Far from paranoid parents, their intuition was proven correct as persistent questioning paid off. In September 2025, the then two-year-old was diagnosed with a hole in the heart.
Lily is currently on medication while awaiting open-heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, yet Sparkes has already noticed a reassuring improvement in her health and energy levels over recent months.
And the Pompey League One title winner, who is taking part in Sunday’s Great Bristol Half Marathon in aid of the British Heart Foundation, feels grateful the family finally received the answers they sought.
‘We knew something was up, but for so long the doctors couldn’t see it.’
‘We always found it weird how Lily wanted to sit in her buggy. She wouldn’t walk a lot, she had to be carried. We talked about it. Is this normal? Is this not?’ Sparkes told The News.
‘We later found out exactly why she often felt out of breath, why she became a lot more tired when she walked. Why she always wanted to be carried.
‘We always thought there was a problem, not the extent of having a hole in her heart, but, at the back of our minds, there was something wrong. Obviously there were times when Lily wasn’t ill, she was a happy girl. But she was ill more than any normal child.
‘It was one thing after another, she just couldn’t seem to shake things off that a child should. A cold went on too long, then it was followed by a cough which would take her a month to get over. They would happen one after the other, it was never-ending.
‘At one time, when we were living in Peterborough, she collected a sickness bug, which was two weeks of being consistently sick for 5-6 times a day. It was crazy. Something wasn’t right, we knew something was up, but for so long the doctors couldn’t see it. They told us not to worry.
‘Now look at her. We were down on Bude beach this morning, she loves it there, she wanted to run everywhere - and can now do it without becoming easily tired. She has more energy, she doesn’t get out of breath, it’s a massive difference.
‘She was happy and smiling, it was lovely to see. Even if Minty wanted to be left alone with her tennis ball rather than being chased across the sand, she’s quite an anti-social dog!
‘Lily probably doesn’t notice the difference in her health, but we can recognise she’s not the same girl who always used to be ill. Since being diagnosed and put on medication, the difference is night and day.
‘As a parent, always trust your gut, we were right all along. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if we hadn’t kept pushing.’
In June 2023, Sparkes, partner Abbie and four-month-old Lily left Exeter to relocate to the south coast, making their home in Wickham.
The attacking left-back, who had been recruited on a free transfer by Pompey, would become a key performer in a memorable 2023-24 season which would see John Mousinho’s men crowned League One champions.
Making 43 appearances, including 22 league starts, Sparkes’ rampaging runs down the left flank, coupled with delivering menace from dead-ball situations, was applauded by appreciative supporters during that promotion campaign.
‘We kept taking Lily to different doctors, more than 10 trips in nine months’
However, months later he was sold to Peterborough in July 2024, without ever kicking a ball in the Championship - and it was during his time at London Road when concerns over Lily’s health initially arose.
Sparkes added: ‘We kept taking Lily to different doctors, more than 10 trips in nine months.
‘She has asthma, so firstly they gave her an inhaler to deal with the cough. It continued, though, to everybody it seemed like a common illness which any child could get. She was given antibiotics, tablets. Nobody was listening.
‘I don’t want to disrespect the doctors, they are amazing at what they do, you obviously trust them. It later turned out what was actually wrong with Lily wasn’t something majorly obvious to anyone.
‘During that time I would Google her symptoms, looking to put my mind at rest, but it never did. If anything, that was dangerous, it messes with your head. I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone.
‘You end up getting caught in the trap of clicking on something which is similar, which can then lead to something else. It’s not a nice place to be reading things, especially about your daughter.
‘It’s natural wanting more information, you want to know what’s going on, it’s not nice seeing your child constantly ill. We have friends with young kids and she would get ill a lot more than they usually did. That was an eye-opener that something probably wasn’t quite right. Why isn’t this cough going?
‘With Lily being our first child, we were learning as we went along, which is why we were a little unsure. What is normal for Lily? Her normal might be different to someone else’s child.
‘Then one day she had a cough, so we went to a surgery in Peterborough and were seen by a student doctor - and somebody finally decided to listen. On this occasion, the response was: “Has anyone ever told you that Lily has a heart murmur?”.
‘As she was young, she had to go on an NHS waiting list for a heart scan, which she underwent in September at Torbay Hospital. Usually, you don’t hear anything for 2-3 weeks - we were asked to go back the very next day.
‘Lily wasn’t there, she was at pre-school, and we were told straight away that she needed open-heart surgery.
‘It was petrifying, we broke down in tears, it hits you hard - your little baby is going to have heart surgery. There were 3D images of the scan which showed exactly how her heart was working and there were two defects.
‘This was supposedly meant to be a normal sickness bug, nobody had a clue it was actually an issue with Lily’s heart. We never expected that.’
Reassurance from ex-Pompey team-mate Colby Bishop
With their child diagnosed with a partial atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) and a cleft left atrioventricular (AV) valve, Sparkes reached out to his former Pompey team-mate Colby Bishop for reassurance.
In July 2024, a routine heart scan during pre-season training discovered the striker had an enlarged valve in his heart. Had it remained undetected, the then 27-year-old could have died playing the game he loves.
Remarkably, three months and two days after undergoing open-heart surgery at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, involving breaking apart his chest bone, Bishop returned to Championship football, scoring on his comeback against Preston in November 2024.
Since that spectacular return, Sparkes’ fellow League One title winner has amassed 75 appearances and scored 15 times, including against Premier League leaders Arsenal in the FA Cup in January.
Although contrasting case studies, Bishop symbolises hope, particularly for the Sparkes family.
‘Lily is going to need open-heart surgery, but, at the same time, it’s the best thing for her as we know the issue is repairable,’ said the 25-year-old.
‘She was born with the defect, yet it hadn’t been picked up. It’s not hereditary either, it is just unfortunate. It’s rare in terms of not many people have this particular condition, but for the specialists and people looking after us, it’s something they have to deal with every day.
‘We’re grateful it was picked up, there are adults who get to 30-something before discovering they have a heart problem. It can pop out of nowhere and, luckily, we’ve caught it with Lily when she was aged two.
‘I have spoken to Colby about Lily’s situation, which has definitely helped us as parents. I will keep what was discussed between us, but his advice was brilliant. It’s nice to know you are not alone.
‘Lily will have her heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, but she needs to get bigger before they operate. We’ve been told the procedure is easier to carry out when she has grown a little more.
‘In the meantime, for the last three months, she has been on medication and they are seeing how she reacts. It’s in liquid form and we use a syringe to put it into her mouth three times a day.
‘Without going too scientific, it basically thins her blood and allows more oxygen into it, which improves the blood flow around the body and helps with fighting off illness.
‘Should Lily continue to get ill, we might look at bringing the operation forward, but, at the moment, we are holding off because she is reacting very well to her medication. It is obviously doing its job, so we can afford to wait a little while.
‘They prefer to operate before a child goes to school, simply because they don’t want them taking too much time off, with recovery on the hospital ward afterwards likely to be up to six weeks.
‘She may also need an artificial valve, but that’s not something they can judge just yet. Lily must have more scans before they decide exactly whether to take that course of action.
‘We’ve been told that, after the operation, she should live a pretty normal life, although she’ll be monitored every year, probably for the rest of her life. Considering the alternative, we feel lucky.’
With his family taking priority in recent seasons, Sparkes’ football career understandably slipped.
After his contract was cancelled by mutual consent following a disappointing 12 months at Peterborough, he moved to Bristol Rovers on a free transfer in June 2025.
While the switch brought them closer to Newton Abbot, formerly their long-time Devon home, Sparkes also found comfort at a football club whose compassion during different days touched him.
‘With the worry and anxiety it caused us as a family, my form was affected’
He added: ‘We’re in a better place than we were six months ago. As a footballer, it has been difficult, very difficult. There have been a lot of hospital appointments and, at times, football has taken a backward step.
‘With the worry and anxiety it caused us as a family, my form was affected. What Lily was going through definitely had a part to play in a drop in my performances, for any human being that surely would be the case.
‘I wouldn’t want to use that as an excuse, you can always be better as a footballer, there are things you can improve on and you get bad games, but mentally, going into matches, it was difficult.
‘I wanted to give 100 per cent, I tried to give 100 per cent, but it’s difficult when your mind is elsewhere. Rightly we should be judged for our performance on the pitch, fans pay their hard-earned money, but, ultimately, people often don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.
‘Yet football was actually a brilliant distraction. I could come in and remove myself from the situation, even if it was for a couple of hours. Being with the lads, I enjoyed myself, everything went away for a little while.
‘It wasn’t just the lads who helped, I cannot thank Bristol Rovers enough for the support I’ve received, particularly from my managers Darrell Clarke and Steve Evans.
‘Darrell was absolutely brilliant, what he has done for me and my family is superb, he was a rock. There were times when I needed days off here and there to be with my family - and he was always so incredibly understanding. I also had some good chats with him, where he made me realise that I wasn’t alone.
‘The current gaffer (Evans) has also been amazing, always checking in on me, seeing how I am. I cannot thank him enough, he really knows how to look after his players.
‘My mind is now in a much better place than earlier in the season. Mentally, if you have a clear mind, then you’re more likely to play better on pitch. My performances have probably been a lot better than they were earlier in the season. Long may that continue.’
Sparkes, like Rovers, finished the season strongly, totalling 47 appearances, two goals and three assists during his first Memorial Stadium season.
Last weekend’s final match of the campaign at Notts County finished in a 1-1 draw, extending their unbeaten record to nine games, while securing a revitalised Rovers 14th spot in League Two.
Yet Sparkes must wait a little longer before enjoying a well-earned rest during the close season - he has a half marathon to complete.
Classy gesture from Fratton faithful
On Sunday, he and Abbie are to take part in the Great Bristol Half Marathon in aid of the British Heart Foundation, who continue to offer towering support.
Since launching a JustGiving campaign in March, they have been touched at the remarkable generosity of the football family, raising almost £6,000 to date, with those donating including fans from Pompey, Exeter and Bristol Rovers.
And Lily will be cheering her parents on along the route.
Sparkes added: ‘As parents, at times we felt we were being paranoid, but always trust your gut. Had we not, Lily wouldn’t be receiving the care she’s receiving at the moment and the care she is going to get.
‘You might not get answers straight away, but eventually you’ll get that little break where something comes up. You may find that right person who seems to listen, like we had with Lilly.
‘It’s hard for her, she doesn’t understand what’s going on, she doesn't understand it at all. We haven’t had many conversations with her about her health, she is still young, only three, we don’t want to scare her.
‘But since the diagnosis, Lily has been in a really good place. We obviously want what’s best for our child - and it’s important we make her the happiest girl we can be.’