Wake Up Call (Continued......)

Today I was finally discharged from the hospital. I had been there for over two months. The doctors told me that the accident had resulted in a fractured skull. I had a surgery the very same day……the D Day of my life………………May 21^st. I had been lying in coma for over a week before finally regaining senses. The doctors mentioned several painful facts before discharging me from the hospital. The broken skull had resulted in a contusion in my brain. Although through rigorous treatment it had been healed, the after effects would haunt my life forever. I had lost three essential parts of my life because of this accident.

My right foot had become weak. I could no longer walk normally. Although doctors insisted that it would be normal over the long term, I strongly doubted it.

I had developed a bad scar on my forehead which would remind me forever of this day.

Lastly, I also lost my ability to properly judge height of a falling object.

These meant that I could no longer play football. I had become a handicapped person, maybe a burden to life itself.

For the next two months I kept myself locked in my apartment. I would watch the video of the match over and over again. I had successfully headed the ball away from my goal when Doyle’s boot struck my head. The momentum carried me towards the goal as my head struck the goal post. That was the last time the world had seen me in action. I would watch the video over and over again until I felt tired and fell asleep.

The club had released me on grounds that I was unfit to play and could serve them no more. My sponsors left me knowing the fact well that they had nothing more to gain from a handicapped person. All my friends left me except John. He would come up to me during the weekends to tell me how he and the club had fared on that week. He even tried to help me with a job at a beverage company which was also his primary sponsor. But I just did not want to be a burden to someone. So I did not accept it. I had led my life as a warrior and would continue to do so.

Then I received the mother of all shocks. Mary was getting married later that month to the media mogul, Mr. Marvin Beakon. John called me up to share the news. I was simply shattered.

My life changed that day onwards. I avoided any sort of social contact and turned my mind to a new friend…………Vodka. I drank day in day out until I could drink no more. The most successful centre half in the history of the league had turned into an alcoholic. During the time I was awake, my inability to play tormented me, while during my sleep the nightmares of D Day would always come to haunt me. I could always see that flying boot coming to hit my head as I tried to clear the ball. The flying boot had shattered my dreams into pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. A puzzle I could no longer solve.

I had reached a state where I could no longer live my life. So, I decided to end it once and for all.