Clarke nearing comeback from his eye injury
TOWN CAPTAIN Nathan Clarke can’t wait to get back to action after fearing his career was over due to an injury.
Clarke was forced off in Halifax’s 1-0 defeat at Sutton on November 28 with an eye injury, and hasn’t played since.
The 37-year-old suffered a detached retina and was operated on by opthalmic surgeon Rubina Rahman at Calderdale Royal Hospital.
“I thought it could have ended my career, so it was quite scary initially,” said Clarke.
“The contact at the time wasn’t something I’d put down as being heavy, but when I got caught in the side of the face, to then within a couple of days, to completely lose my sight in the left eye, was quite scary.
“I had the operation, which ended up being two-and-a-half hours, whilst being awake.
“The retina had detached and it ended up being quite a serious operation, so thankfully that went really well, the surgeon was really happy with that.
“I’m still in the process of it not being too blurry now. I joined in training for the first time today, did some extra running and bits and bats, so I feel really fit and ready to go.
“Contact-wise I haven’t done anything and I’ve been advised by the surgeon to ease back into that, so I’m probably at the early stages of that.”
Clarke had his operation a week to ten days after picking up the injury.
“I’m so thankful to the surgeon and the team because when you read up on it and look into it, it’s an amazing operation that they do,” he said. “Then for probably about two weeks the sight had still gone.
“They put a gas bubble in the eye, which then disperses over time. I’m coming out of the back end of that now.
“I had the operation just before Christmas.
“It’s still a bit blurry in certain places, and I’ve been told I’ll have to wear glasses and contact lenses, so the loss of my short sight comes with the operation.
“I guess it’s something you don’t think about when you play football, that an injury like that is going to happen, but unfortunately it’s happened to me.”
Clarke is not sure when he will be able to return to action, and that it’s down to how his eye reacts to contact and heading the ball again.
“That’s the big test at the moment,” he said. “The surgeon isn’t a sports specialist so, rightly so, she’s protecting the work she’s done and making sure the first thing is that the eye has recovered. We can’t really put a time on it unfortunately, but I’m working hard so that when I do get the go-ahead, I’m fit enough and ready enough.”
Clarke praised the support he has received from the coaching staff at Halifax.
“The manager’s been fantastic in understanding there is a life after football and with me having a family, that I needed to do things right, and they’ve been right behind me.
“The support they’ve shown me has been fantastic.
“The support my family have shown me, especially my wife, has been really amazing too.”
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