KENNY ON THE MEND AFTER HEAD INJURY
Breakdown in the NHS Troubled England ace sits up in hospital after fighting for his life
MENTAL breakdowns are causing more than double the number of NHS staff absences than 10 years ago.
Official figures from the health service reveal 4.7 million days were lost last year, compared to two million during 2010.
A quarter of all time taken off sick is due to mental health problems.
The figures back up claims that staff face huge workloads after a decade of Tory austerity cuts.
Charity the Laura Hyde Foundation, which supports frontline medics, branded the figures “disturbing”.
Chairman Liam Barnes said: “We are facing a ticking time bomb.
“The Government and NHS need to step up support to staff who are working in an environment that is unbearably stressful.”
TROUBLED football legend Kenny Sansom was sitting up in hospital yesterday after he was reportedly beaten in a drunken row.
The former England ace, 61, had been unable to communicate for seven days – and doctors told his family they didn’t expect him to survive the night eight days ago.
His three grown-up children Natalie, Katie and Harry were last night by his bedside.
They have been warned: “He’s not out of the woods yet”.
A source said: “Ken’s family and friends have been worried sick but he’s a strong man. Things were looking bad but fingers crossed he’s beaten the odds now.
“His family are still trying to make sense of what’s happened but doctors say he had suffered injuries to his nose and head.”
It is understood Kenny fell and suffered a serious head injury in Exeter, Devon, where he lives. He is in the city’s hospital.
The former Arsenal captain made 86 appearances for England and remains our second most capped left-back after Ashley Cole. He is England’s 12th most capped player in any position.
Kenny played 400 times for Arsenal and was in three Wembley cup finals in a glittering 20-year career, which began at Crystal
Palace. He also turned out for QPR, Newcastle and Everton.
But he has been fighting a wellpublicised war with alcoholism.
In June 2015 Kenny accepted a lifeline from former teammate Tony Adams and the Professional Footballers’ Association to go into rehab after he was found sleeping on the streets.
He told an interviewer he was downing up to five bottles of wine a day, had lost his home and was feeling suicidal.
In January 2016 he spent 12 weeks in rehab at the Perry Clayman Project in Luton after two appearances on Jeremy Kyle.
Kenny had originally refused rehab but later thanked the TV host after claiming the stay had turned his life around.
Clinic
In November 2016, comic Russell Brand drove him to a clinic in Coventry and arranged an 18-week stay. Kenny only lasted two days before walking out.
Two months later former Arsenal teammate Niall Quinn checked him in to the Tiglin Centre in County Wicklow, where he lasted seven months.
The source added: “Hopefully Ken will make a full recovery and this will prove to be a turning point. He’s been in a bad way for a long time.”
Devon and Cornwall Police were unavailable for comment on Sansom’s injuries.