Cole fought for life as his dad lost battleto live

HEARTS striker Cole Stockton has revealed how his dad’s death coincided with his own battle against a lifethreatening bout of Septicaemia.

Now a burly, imposing presence at the age of 23, the Jambos’ summer signing was just 13 when he lost all feeling in his left leg following a trial with Tranmere Rovers.

The potential damage career was put into perspective when he was rushed to hospital and swiftly diagnosed with a serious blood disease, adding: “I was critical”.

Without that treatment, the young Cole could have been dead within 48 hours, doctors later explained.

“I was on trial at Tranmere at the time and remember playing a game and coming off with a sore back,” he said.

“I used to play for two teams then so I went and played for my Sunday League team that same afternoon.

“When I woke up the next morning I couldn’t move my left leg. I went to the doctors and they did MRI scans and that’s when they saw the infection in my groin area.

“It is a serious illness, like a blood infection. As a kid you don’t realise how serious it is but being around my mum, and seeing her face, told me.

“If I hadn’t gone and had it checked out I’d have probably snuffed it. They said if I hadn’t gone to the hospital within 48 hours I’d have passed out on the couch I was on.”

While Cole pulled through, he was forced to contend with tragedy as liver disease took the life of his father Stephen during the same period.

“That was a hard time in my life, I was in hospital [with Septicaemia] at the same time,” he continued candidly. “I remember the night my dad passed – that night I had a dream that I was playing football with him.

“To me, that’s like he came to me first to say ‘I’m here for you’. He has always inspired me. Everywhere I go, I know he’s there with me. Everything I do in my career is for him.”