Black Stars midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has spoken of his brush with death last year.
Badu said that blood clots, which kept him out of action for months, claim close to ending his life.
In August, Badu’s club in Italy, Hellas Verona, said the Ghanaian had been admitted following a positive diagnosis for pulmonary microembolism.
Badu has spoken about the moment he returned home from the gym struggling to breathe and how he almost dismissed it as tiredness.
“In August I came close to dying myself. We were in pre-season, everything was going well. It was a week before the league started. The morning after a game I came to the gym to do some gym work. That night I came home and was struggling to breathe. I didn’t take it seriously at first – I thought it was tiredness.”
He said the situation got much worse the next day, forcing him to finally call the physio.
After checking him, the physio immediately suggested that they go to the hospital where the blood clots were discovered.
“In the morning they gave me some painkillers. But the next night it was even worse. At 2am I called the doctor and fortunately he was awake. He sent a physio who was closer to me and he came – and immediately said, “we need to go to the hospital,” Badu narrated.
“Eventually they found out that I had a blood clot in my lungs. I had to stop playing football for three to four months.”
Badu, humbled by the scare, urged anyone in such a situation to not panic and remain strong.
“It was a very dramatic time for me but in certain times like this you need to be strong, thank God I’m back on my feet and doing well now.
“It was very serious, I think if I hadn’t got the physio and the doctor to check up on me it would’ve been a disaster.”
Badu who is on loan from Udinese made four appearances this season before it was halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
He has also played almost 80 games for Ghana’s national team.