Aston Villa star Jack Grealish opens up on horror injury
Villa star Jack Grealish has opened up about the horror injury he claims helped transform his career, revealing: “I was told I might die.”
The 22-year-old required emergency surgery after suffering lacerations to a kidney during a pre-season friendly with Watford at Villa Park last July.
Grealish missed the opening three months of the season but revealed how, initially, a return to football was the least of his concerns.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “I took a kick to the kidney and it split in two places. It was pouring with blood,internally, for about five hours.
“It’s the worst pain I’ve ever been in. I went to Heartlands hospital in Birmingham. They found out what it was and I was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth for an operation.
“Before it happened, the surgeon had to tell me the consequences of what could happen if it didn’t work. He looked me in the eye and said ‘Jack, you could die’. My reply was, ‘What?’.
“I was genuinely scared. I was expecting to be back inside a week but it was three or four months.”
Since recovering and regaining his place at Villa, Grealish has enjoyed the most consistent form of his career while helping Steve Bruce’s team reach the Championship play-off final.
He claims the injury helped him to refocus and become a ‘different person’.
He said: “I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason. I came back from that injury a different person.
“I thought how everything could be taken away from you in such a short space of time. I worked so hard to come back because I missed football.”
Grealish will be a key man when Villa take on Fulham at Wembley this Saturday.
And he admitted the personal tragedy suffered by boss Bruce in recent months has given players an added incentive to win promotion.
Bruce lost both his parents within the space of 88 days.
Grealish said: “I’m praying we win it - just for him. A lot of people think like that.
“He’s such a nice bloke, and one of the best, if not the best, managers I have played for.
“Sometimes you can tell when someone has a lovely heart.
“When I was in hospital, he came to see me twice and he Facetimed me every other day to see how I was. You remember stuff like that and if I do end up scoring the winner, I’ll dedicate it to him.”
