Apollon soccer player Connor Goldson, in comments he gave to “talkSPORT.”
The 33-year-old described what happened while he was in the ICU, revealed how the problem was detected, and detailed the process leading up to the surgery, and also commented on how long it will take for him to return.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In detail:
Initial statement: “I’m doing very well; my recovery is going well. I’m back on the field, training. Obviously, I’m working out one-on-one with the strength and conditioning coach, because I can’t participate in contact drills yet—my sternum is split in two. Other than that, I feel fine; I’m playing soccer and going for a run every day.
On his time in the hospital’s intensive care unit: “I was in the intensive care unit for 24 hours, I think. To be honest, I don’t really know. My wife knows more than I do. I was in the high-dependency unit for another 24 hours, and then I returned to the regular ward, to my own room. I think it was on the third day.”
On how he discovered his condition and what happened leading up to the surgery: “The first surgery in 2017 was again during a routine checkup. I had never felt anything. I’d never been on the field and collapsed or felt chest pain or anything like that. I was always in good physical shape and healthy.
I had a routine checkup back then in Brighton, and they found that my aortic root was dilated—meaning it was larger than normal.
They told me that, obviously, if it grew to a dangerous size and ruptured, you would essentially die instantly. It had remained the same size for nine years, so it hadn’t changed at all since the first surgery.
In Cyprus, you need a health card. Every year, you have to get a cardiac checkup, blood tests, and all the related exams, and then they give you the card.
Over the past two years, obviously, I’d had the checkups and everything was fine. This year I went, and the doctor told me that my readings had gone up. I went to another specialist the next day, and he told me the same thing.
Then I said, “Okay, I need to go back to England. I need to see my own surgeon, my own specialist.” I went back to England, and he also told me that it had indeed increased and that I would need another surgery. He told me I could keep playing soccer as usual, so I asked him how soon he could schedule the surgery. He said in ten days.
So I went back to Cyprus, stayed for a few days—about a week—with the kids. I watched my son at soccer practice every day; he was at a soccer camp, and then I returned to London, had the surgery, and am now in the process of recovering.
The first two people I saw here in Cyprus told me to forget about soccer and focus on my family. Then I went to see my surgeon, who is probably the best in the world at these procedures. He’s so confident—almost arrogant—but in a good way. He told me I’d have the surgery and be just fine.”
On when he’ll return to action: “I’m really looking forward to coming back, especially now that I’ve started training. I’m playing with the ball and running about five kilometers during my workouts. The surgeon told me it takes 12 weeks for that particular bone to heal. My heart was fine right after the surgery.
I had my follow-up appointment with him a week—ten days—ago. He gave me the green light. Everything is fine with my heart. So now all that’s left is basically for the sternum to heal. He told me 12 weeks. Five have already passed. If you do the math, there are maybe another seven weeks left. I’m sure that during that time I’ll get back into good shape, get ready, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Connor Goldson on @talkSPORT discussing his recent second heart surgery.
Great to see the big man doing well in his recovery
pic.twitter.com/wyztr19BxE
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