Pal's blonde wife saves semi-conscious Gazza

London, Sept.15 : A semi-conscious former England football star Paul Gascoigne was literally saved by a blonde in Portugal after another drug overdose bout.

Sally Digby, 40, the wife of a friend of Gazza, rushed him to a hospital and stayed as medics pumped his stomach, reports The Sun.

Gazza, 41, gulped pills during a bender after fleeing a rehab centre, and was believed to be staying with Sarah and her husband Ian - an old friend who runs an Algarve restaurant.

A friend of the couple said: "Without Sally and Ian he might not have pulled through.She's become Gazza's rock. They've become close, but it's nothing more than a friendship."

Last week, Gazza's ex-wife Sheryl, 42, and daughter Bianca, 21, had begged him to quit his binge after jetting to Portugal - only to be told: "F*** off and leave me to die."

A Brit who saw him slumped in a chair at the five-star Don Pedro Golf Hotel in Vilamoura told how he asked if he was all right.

ANI