Ryan Mason thanks ‘gentleman’ Petr Cech for coming to his house and guiding him back from near death after skull fracture
Hull star Mason almost died following a horrific clash with Gary Cahill in a Premier League match last January
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RYAN MASON has thanked Petr Cech for helping him recover from a life-threatening head injury and says the Arsenal goalkeeper has ‘set the standards for what it is to be a proper man’.
Hull star Mason almost died following a horrific clash with Gary Cahill in a Premier League match last January.
The 26-year- old, who needed oxygen on the pitch, fractured his skull in the incident and required emergency brain surgery.
Thankfully he is now on the road to recovery and, in an exclusive interview with talkSPORT’s Jim White, heaped praise on Cech, who himself underwent surgery for a depressed skull fracture in October 2006 following a collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt.
Cech, who was playing for Chelsea at the time, has worn a skull cap ever since and his words and support offered much-needed reassurance to Mason and his family.
Mason said: “I can’t speak highly enough of Petr Cech. He’s set the standards of what it is to be a proper man and a gentleman.
“Straightaway [after the incident] he contacted my family and my fiancée and reassured us that what we were going through was normal and to be expected, with not being able to talk and struggling with light and everything like that.
“As soon as I got a bit more strength I was keen to see him because he said, ‘as soon as you’re ready, I’d like to come round and speak to you’.
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“I think it was after about eight or nine weeks he came round. I was a bit worried at first because I hadn’t really spoken to anyone for longer than ten minutes.
“He walked through the door, sat on my sofa and said, ‘just sit back, don’t say anything, just listen’ and he spoke for about an hour and a half.
“I didn’t say anything, he just spoke and it was brilliant because when he left my partner said, ‘wow, the things we were a little bit worried about…’ It just reassured us that everything we were going through was part of the process of recovery.
“We’ve been in touch ever since. He’s been round to the house again and we speak on the phone regularly. He’s been fantastic.”
And Mason says the example set by Cech in helping him means he would have no hesitation in offering the same levels of support to anyone unfortunate enough to suffer a similar injury.
He added: “I’m sure if someone goes through that again [what we’ve been through] we’ll be fighting to be there for them and to support them.
“It gave me such strength, hearing him explain how much of a positive impact it can have on someone.
“I’m hoping no one ever does go through that sort of injury again in sport but, if they do, I will be there [for them] like Petr was for me.”
