FIREFIGHTERS went head to head with policemen in a charity ice hockey match to raise funds for a fellow firefighter who is still in a critical condition after he suffered a stroke.
Mark Dos Santos, 37, from Chelmsford, had the stroke when a neck-hold went wrong in a martial arts class he was teaching in Maldon last April.
The stroke was a result of a blood clot and he then underwent two bouts of emergency brain surgery before suffering a cardiac arrest and surviving pneumonia.
The father-of-two was left unable to walk or talk for some time.
Firefighter Ben Johnson, from Loughton Fire Station, decided to organise the event for Mark, who works at Brentwood Fire Station.
The match took place at Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre in Chelmsford and saw 20 policemen battle it out against 15 firefighters.
The firefighters came out victorious, winning the closely fought match 6-4 on Saturday.
Over 400 people came out to watch the spectacle, raising £1,800 for Mark.
"It was brilliant, the atmosphere was amazing," said Ben, 32, from Saffron Walden, who has been with the fire service for 14 years.
"We often go to Brentwood when there are not enough people and so I have worked with Mark a few times when they were short-staffed.
"He is a bubbly fellow, and he's a scouser – so of course he is.
"We heard about Mark's situation of course because all the fire stations do talk to each other.
"I thought as a team we would try to do this as one of our charity events especially because it is a local Essex man. We were a bit undermanned, the police team has about 20 people and we had 15.
"But it was good, the score was a bit closer than we thought, I thought we were going to completely annihilate them."
Ben rallied people together during the last training session in Sheffield, and attracted firefighters, who also play ice hockey, from all over the UK, from Manchester to Surrey.
They celebrated with a meal at Back Inn Time and drinks in Bar 41 in Chelmsford before they all headed home.
Lee plans to present the charity cheque to Mark, either at his home in Great Totham or at the rehabilitation unit he attends in Harrow, in north west London, in the coming days.