Lyndon Dykes has confessed he was “just happy to get through” his terrifying health scare.
The Scotland striker has opened up on sheer levels of emotion which overtook him as he ended up seriously ill in hospital in late January. Dykes spent eight days in critical care with pneumonia. Bold and brash on the park, the 27-year-old suddenly felt vulnerable and fearful. Dykes had never been in hospital before. Now he was surrounded by fellow patients, attached to drips and not sure what was coming next.
Playing football again wasn’t even on his mind. Just getting better was enough as he explained when looking back with searing realism. Dykes said: “I was happy just to get through it, to be honest. It was a tough time. I was playing with a bit of the illness for a week with QPR. I had sort of flu symptoms, a temperature, a cough, not feeling great.
“But I’m the type of person that tries to batter through, just take medicine and try to play. I played on the weekend against Swansea and was ill at half time. Then that Thursday, I tried to train and I knew then that something wasn’t quite right.
“By night, I was in critical care in the hospital. It was a bit of an emotional and crazy time for me. I’m an athlete, so I’m used to running around everywhere, but I couldn’t run 10 metres.
“So I was just happy to come out of it. For my family as well it was quite a tough time. It was crazy. Being at training in the morning, then going to see the specialist. You are going straight to hospital with that amount of pneumonia in your lung!
“I just couldn’t believe I was going into hospital, but I ended up in there for eight days, so it was as crazy as crazy. I was in critical care the whole time.
“The first few days were rough. The medicine wasn’t working as well as they wanted it to work. They changed a few things and the following week I started to pick up a bit and get back on my feet.
“I was walking around the halls and ended up trying to get a bit of a jog on and seeing what I could do. But it was tough. Being locked in a room and seeing what happens in hospitals is not a nice sight, so to get out of it was just a relief. I was so happy to be out of it.
“Just being in that environment and experiencing it all, seeing how ill people are, and even myself, being an athlete but still seeing how vulnerable I could be. It was a real eye opener for myself and my family. You realise that at the end of the day it comes down to your health.”
Dykes’ wife and three children went through the ordeal by his side and he continued: “At the start, I wasn’t even thinking about football. It was that bad.
“It was quite hard getting your breath when you first started walking. I had a physio work with me to help with my breathing and I ended up doing laps of the hospital, trying to get my fitness back. I knew it would be a slow process, taking it step by step, day by day, and I needed to work as hard as I could to get back. It did make me appreciate things. Obviously, I’ve got kids and a wife so it was a hard time for all of us.
“The kids came into hospital with my wife to see me a couple of days after I went in. Seeing me like that was a big shock for everyone. I’ve got three kids. Aged five, and two step daughters aged 13 and 16. My little man wasn’t quite aware of what was going on, but, once he saw me it was a big shock.
“Now I use it to scare him and when I want to make sure he eats his vegetables or gets his fruit into him! I tell him to make sure and eat up or he will end up in hospital like me!
“My fear was to be in hospital. It was the first time I have been in, but the staff were all amazing. Funny enough, with all my tattoos, needles and blood I have an issue with.
“I think there was a picture going about with me on the drip and whatever, I was on everything! It’s just one of those things, but I am used to it all now, with the amount of blood tests I had taken and the amount of needles I had to deal with.
“You can’t ever write off your health, that comes before everything else. It is what it is. Sometimes I would try to batter through and try to play with illnesses and play when I shouldn’t, but next time I might actually take a step back. I have to think about what could happen.”
Dykes has stunned medics with the speed of his return. With three games under his belt for QPR, he’s part of Steve Clarke ’s set-up again. The whole Scots set-up was behind him during his lay-off as he explained: “I had a lot of people in contact, and I was in contact with the manager throughout.
“It was quite nerve-wracking going into that first QPR game. It wasn’t the plan for me to start. I was thinking: Ooof, this could be a bit dicey, hopefully I do alright.
“There were a few times I felt quite out of breath, you just have to get those minutes in your legs and get those deep breaths, but I got through it, so I was happy with that.
“I’ve got the all clear. I’ve had my final checks. The pneumonia is gone and everything is good. I’ve had three games and I was training with the team and the sports scientists, so I’m good to go.”
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