A Scots footballer was delighted to see the back of 2022 after two catastrophic illnesses affected his mobility and could mean he never plays the sport again. Ex-Kilmarnock midfielder Will Graham, 23, was playing for Hurlford United in a friendly match in July when he collapsed with a burst brain aneurysm.
Medics didn’t think he would survive and Will had accepted he was going to die as he felt everything drain out of his body as the bleed intensified. But he defied the odds and a few months ago told the Daily Record he was battling back to fitness and just six weeks after his aneurysm he had begun to jog again - even though he still had no feeling down his left hand side.
However, just days after speaking about his progress Will had a massive seizure in his father’s car as they drove from Oban, where the family now live, to Kilmarnock.
Will said: “I was just having a random chat with my dad and without any warning signs whatsoever I just started having a seizure. My dad said it lasted around 40-45 minutes which was super long.
“He said I became quite aggressive and started punching myself in the face while he was driving, so hard that I dislocated by own jaw. Then afterwards I was unresponsive for around 10 minutes. My dad thought I was dead and was about to start resuscitation.”
Will’s dad Steven was about 15 minutes away from their Oban home when the seizure began and tried to call an ambulance but he was in a dead zone for mobile reception so drove on until he got to a restaurant and pulled in there to call an ambulance.
“I was airlifted to hospital because I was borderline unresponsive," he said. “I don’t remember a thing from the seizure, I just remember waking up and two paramedics were hovering over me. My next recollection was waking up in hospital. I have not been the same since.
"It has caused a lot of issues with my brain. I have lost sensation in about 60-70 per cent of my body. My body still moves but I cannot feel it. Doctors have said because of how violent the seizure was the sensation may never come back. It is not something I can fix, I have just got to pray, hope and have faith it will come back.”
Doctors cannot tell him what prompted the seizure but he fears being taken off all his medication following his discharge from hospital after his aneurysm coupled with pushing his body as hard as he could in an effort to get his fitness back may have prompted it.
He said: “I had been given the green light to start moving my body, start slow running and going to the gym. I started pace walking then slow jogging and then started to see how fast I could run.
“I didn’t think about the repercussions, I was just so excited to be able to move. I was doing runs until I was sick, working my body until it gave up. It seems mental, I was so stupid.
“I have always trained like that though. I don’t think I am working hard enough until I am literally being sick or passing out. On top of running I was going to the gym, sometimes even in the same day. It was mental but I could see myself getting back to football again.”
After around seven weeks in the Douglas Grant Rehabilitation Unit in Irvine, Will returned home to Oban once more and is now using a personal trainer to try to recapture some fitness, but is being forced to take things at a much slower pace.
The space around Oban is proving beneficial for his mental and physical health and he was delighted to have a quieter Christmas than normal with his mum, dad and brother.
He said: “It was the first time we had Christmas together in about six or seven years and I was delighted to be able cherish that time with my family because I was not promised I would be here. Three times I was told I might not make it through surgery.
“The New Year feels like a fresh start. I am excited for what this year will bring. It will be a tough year but I can’t wait for the challenge. I refuse to give up no matter how hard it gets.”
Doctors have told Will it will be two years rehab before he can even think about playing football again.
Will said: “It is sh**e but it is the reality of how it is. I am going to be 25 by the time I am even able to consider being able to play again but I could still have another 15 years playing if I do go back.
“I have lost 20 kilos, I am just skin and bone, so physically it will take a long time to get anywhere near the fitness I had. But I have literally lived to tell the tale.
“I have to accept I may never be able to play football again and will have to get on with the rest of my life. But I will die trying.”
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