Goldson has the heart for battle
Life-saving surgery has galvanised Ibrox target
Not many people have seen their own heart but I’ve got pictures of mine on my mobile phone
STEVEN GERRARD will be relying on Connor Goldson to be his Brighton rock next season, standing firm when the going gets tough in the heat of Old Firm battle.
Yet whatever pressures lie in wait for the defender in Glasgow once his move to Rangers is confirmed, they will surely pale in comparison with the adversity the 25-year-old has already faced in life.
In February last year, Goldson was devastated when a routine scan by his employers Brighton and Hove Albion revealed he had a serious heart defect.
He was diagnosed with a swollen aorta, a condition which could have killed him if he had carried on playing without having an operation.
The Englishman showed commendable courage amid the upheaval that followed — and made an incredible comeback just four months after undergoing life-saving surgery when he played in Brighton’s friendly with Fortuna Dusseldorf last July.
He went on to make his English Premier League debut for the club in a 1-0 home win over Watford in December.
Both matches were milestones he had thought were beyond him when he was first diagnosed. Initially fearing his career was over, he went from cursing his luck to sheer relief the problem had been discovered in the first place.
‘When the doctor broke the news to me that I needed a heart operation, I was distraught,’ Goldson recalled previously.
‘I was down. It hits you hard when you’ve been involved in something so serious.
‘After the operation, the first few days were quite tough. My chest was broken and it was hard moving around or sleeping.
‘But I spoke to the specialist again and he reassured me I would be able to play football again. That’s when it started hitting home that I had to use the news positively. I was fortunate that it had been found.
‘I was lucky that Brighton make you have a heart scan every one or two years. It could have carried on growing and maybe nothing would have happened.
‘But if something did happen you wouldn’t be able to tell what was going on and it would have been death straight away on a football pitch, no chance of resuscitation.
‘Once I’d seen the specialist, I had to get surgery done.’
Goldson’s health scare has prompted him to call on football clubs to carry out more screening checks on players to detect heart problems.
He said: ‘You look at Cheick Tiote (the former Newcastle midfielder who collapsed and died aged 30 after suffering cardiac arrest during training in China).
‘You never know what can happen. Football needs to do something. Every club needs to check at least once a year. Unfortunately, players don’t get the scans.
‘But it’s massively important. We put ourselves and our bodies through such hard work every day. ‘We test ourselves every day to try to get better and better but you never know what’s going on internally.
‘I never felt a thing. The average person has (an aorta of) 4cm and you’re at risk at 5cm. My last scan was 4.9cm. So I was very close.
‘The surgeon explained that the valve was like a balloon. It gets bigger and bigger and it can just pop at any time... and then it’s over straight away.
‘If my little story can make other clubs think they need to do a test, hopefully it can save other players.’
With a six-inch scar running down the centre of his chest, Goldson has a permanent reminder of his brush with mortality.
He now uses images of what his body has endured as a motivation to spur him on in his footballing career.
‘Not many people have seen their own heart, but I’ve got pictures of mine on my phone,’ he said.
‘I quite like my scar because it will always remind me of what I’ve been through.
‘The operation really wasn’t that bad. The idea of heart surgery sets alarm bells ringing because it’s so rare but I was out for two months, which is the same as a hamstring or muscle tear.
‘There are a lot worse injuries I could have had. Players who have knee ops can be out for a year, so I consider myself fortunate.’
Goldson remains highly rated by Brighton boss Chris Hughton. But his game time was limited last season to just eight appearances, mainly because of the stellar form of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk — the latter being likened to John Terry by Hughton.
He will expect to be far more involved at Rangers, where so far this summer the Ibrox club have recruited goalkeeper Allan McGregor, midfielder Scott Arfield and Goldson’s Brighton teammate Jamie Murphy, whose loan move from the Seagulls was made permanent.
New boss Gerrard is also keen on securing a deal for Liverpool kid Ovie Ejaria, who is expected to arrive in Glasgow on loan.
Now fully recovered from his heart scare, Goldson is eager to make up for lost time as he inches towards his move to Govan.
When he teams up with Gerrard, the aim will be to end Celtic’s dynasty under Brendan Rodgers.
‘This operation has given me more drive and ambition,’ he said previously. ‘It has made me stronger and I have no doubt in my ability.
‘I have to play and, if it will not be with Brighton, I need to go somewhere else.’