Gordon up and running after almost losing his leg in training injury WALSALL LEICESTER
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Banks’s Stadium: 12.30pm
WHEN Liam Gordon signed on with Walsall last summer, he was relishing the chance of a fresh start in a career that had already seen him sent on loan four times.
At 23, a football journey mainly through non-league still had plenty of time and scope to flourish.
But within hours of hitting the training pitch with the Saddlers Gordon was in hospital with a lifethreatening condition called acute compartment syndrome and fearing he would lose a leg rather than dreaming of career possibilities.
“On the first day of pre-season I
came in and we did a 2k run, as you do,” said Gordon. “The blood circulation in my legs stopped working properly during the run and I began to feel dizzy.
“I made sure I completed the run because I didn’t want to drop out.
“I collapsed on the line and I think people thought I was joking and wasn’t fit. But I knew that wasn’t the case and it became more serious because after half an hour I was still down on the floor.
“An ambulance was called and I went to hospital and later got discharged with what they thought was a sprained shin.
“They told me to rest it for three weeks but if I did that I don’t know if I would have played football again or still have my leg. The club arranged an MRI scan and it showed I had acute compartment syndrome. The muscle was so tight there was no blood circulation in my left leg.
“They had to do an insertion from my knee to my ankle to release the pressure because I had no feeling in my toes. My toes and the side of my shin are still numb now but
I’m able to play.
“At the time everything was going through my mind and the main thing was when I realised I may never play again.
“But I didn’t know whether
I was going to be able to walk or even have my leg.”
Three operations in five days were required to stave off the danger and put the defender from London back on an even keel.
He has since returned to action and made 17 appearances for Michael Flynn’s League Two side, who host Leicester in the fourth round.
Gordon’s return to fitness has helped Walsall enjoy an impressive run of just one defeat in 13 games in all competitions to climb the table and be four points off the play-off places with two games in hand. Gordon, who signed from Bolton and also played for Carshalton and Dagenham, and on loan at Whitehawk, Hendon and Dartford, said: “It’s hard to forget what has happened but I appreciate every moment now. It could have been a lot different.
“I’ve had so much support at Walsall, the best of any club I have been at. I come in every day in a good mood.
“I relish every game - especially this Leicester game because I’ve never got past the first round before.
“We don’t fear any team. There is no opponent who fazes us no matter how high they are in the food chain.
“We would have loved it to have been on TV. But we just have to focus on winning our game to be on TV in the next round.”