Steph Shilton: 'We could only watch as Leicester City helicopter crashed'

Steph Shilton had attended City’s drawn game versus West Ham with her husband and were making their way to their car when they saw the helicopter in trouble overhead on Saturday evening.

The club has since announced 60-year-old Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was on board the helicopter and died alongside two members of his staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and his partner Izabela Roza Lechowicz.

Mrs Shilton, who lives with husband Peter in West Mersea, said: “Both Pete and I are just in complete shock.

“We just can’t comprehend what happened. All Pete can do is talk to the grandchildren; it’s so raw.”

She added: “We were walking to our car when we saw it. It was absolutely horrific.

“You could see the pilot was doing absolutely everything to make sure he didn’t bring the helicopter down on a crowd of people.

“The last thing he did was save others’ lives.”

The jazz singer and former NHS worker added: “Pete has met Vichai a number of times and he was really very fond of him.

“He was 100 per cent centre of the club and you can see from all the tributes how well-loved he was.”

She added: “When it happened, we were just in a state of shock - and I think we both still are.”

Yesterday, the Leicester City squad visited the crash site alongside vice chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha - Vichai’s son - at the King Power Stadium.

Club officials, including director of football Jon Rudkin and chief executive Susan Whelan, also attended as they viewed the floral tributes and the family laid their own.

The president of the Thai FA, Somyot Poompanmoung and his wife, Potjaman Poompamoung, were also among the group, while various personalities from sport and showbiz - including Kasabian signer Tom Meighan - also arrived.

A devastated Kasper Schmeichel posted an emotional tributes to the man who “changed football forever.”

Denmark international goalkeeper Schmeichel, who was reported to have witnessed the accident, thanked Srivaddhanaprabha for making his football dreams come true in an emotional post on his Instagram account.

“Dear Mr Chairman. I cannot believe this is happening. I am so totally devastated and heartbroken. I just cannot believe what I saw last night. It just doesn’t seem real,” he wrote.

“It is difficult to put into words how much you meant to this football club and to the city of Leicester. Never have I ever come across a man like you. So hard working, so passionate, so kind and so generous in the extreme.

“You changed football. Forever! You gave hope to everyone that the impossible was possible. You literally made my dreams come true.

“We now have a responsibility as a club, as players and fans to honour you. From knowing you we do this by being the family you created.”

Schmeichel’s powerful words were echoed by his team-mates, who were expected to arrive at the stadium later on Monday.

“Words can’t describe how I feel. A truly great, kind, loving man who will be missed so much by everyone. I will never forget the Chairman’s support, not only during my time @LCFC but also during the World Cup,” England defender Harry Maguire wrote on Twitter.

Fellow City defender and England left-back Ben Chilwell hailed “one of the best people you could wish to meet”.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “I can’t believe it. I am heartbroken to hear that no-one survived the crash yesterday.”

Jamie Vardy - whose meteoric rise through the leagues was matched step-by-step by the club as they came from nowhere to win the Premier League in 2016 - called Srivaddhanaprabha a “legend”.

He said on Instagram: “Struggling to find the right words, but to me you are a legend, an incredible man who had the biggest heart, the soul of Leicester City Football Club. Thank you for everything you did for me, my family and our club. I will truly miss you, may you rest in peace.”

Srivaddhanaprabha was the driving force of Leicester’s rise from the Championship to the top of the Premier League, bringing together a band of nomadic players who were superbly guided by manager Claudio Ranieri and captained by Wes Morgan.