Paul Scholes
Just read some online articles on Scholes today, and what a class act that man is.
Scholes sees how blurred vision improved his focus - Guardian Unlimited
Scholes may have learned to cope with the eye problem that threatened to end his career but his vision could be impaired for the rest of his life and when he agrees to a rare interview it has to be fitted around his exercises on the state-of-the-art optical equipment Manchester United have installed for him at the training ground. "It's an eye reactor," Scholes explains about the machine in the corner of the gymnasium. "I don't have to use it but I do anyway. I want to keep on top of it."
"I can remember it clearly," says Scholes, recalling the day he first realised something was wrong. "We were playing at Birmingham and in the last 10 minutes I could see a ball coming towards me. Then it suddenly felt like there were three or four balls coming towards me. I thought I just had a migraine. But I went to see a specialist when it still hadn't gone and they found the problem after that.
"It was worrying, not just as a footballer but also a person with a family. They thought it was quite serious at first and were asking me for my family's medical history, talking about whether there was a history of bleeding or heart disease, stuff like that. Then they diagnosed what the problem was and there was a small chance, I believe, it could have ended my career. But I never thought like that. I always thought I would be back and playing. There's still a little bit of blurring but I am totally used to it now."
"On reflection," he says thoughtfully, "I think the break has been beneficial. I'd been playing a long time without a break and it did refresh me. Plus, I had a lot of time to think about everything. I realised how lucky I was to be a footballer. I'm 33 in November and I know I can't go on much longer, maybe another two or three years, so I just have to enjoy it now."
The word legend is brandished around way too easily these days, but this man, along with Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, is easily a Manchester United Legend.
Take a bow, Paul, your comeback has been nothing less than extraordinary. Long may it continue.
Scholes sees how blurred vision improved his focus - Guardian Unlimited
Scholes may have learned to cope with the eye problem that threatened to end his career but his vision could be impaired for the rest of his life and when he agrees to a rare interview it has to be fitted around his exercises on the state-of-the-art optical equipment Manchester United have installed for him at the training ground. "It's an eye reactor," Scholes explains about the machine in the corner of the gymnasium. "I don't have to use it but I do anyway. I want to keep on top of it."
"I can remember it clearly," says Scholes, recalling the day he first realised something was wrong. "We were playing at Birmingham and in the last 10 minutes I could see a ball coming towards me. Then it suddenly felt like there were three or four balls coming towards me. I thought I just had a migraine. But I went to see a specialist when it still hadn't gone and they found the problem after that.
"It was worrying, not just as a footballer but also a person with a family. They thought it was quite serious at first and were asking me for my family's medical history, talking about whether there was a history of bleeding or heart disease, stuff like that. Then they diagnosed what the problem was and there was a small chance, I believe, it could have ended my career. But I never thought like that. I always thought I would be back and playing. There's still a little bit of blurring but I am totally used to it now."
"On reflection," he says thoughtfully, "I think the break has been beneficial. I'd been playing a long time without a break and it did refresh me. Plus, I had a lot of time to think about everything. I realised how lucky I was to be a footballer. I'm 33 in November and I know I can't go on much longer, maybe another two or three years, so I just have to enjoy it now."
The word legend is brandished around way too easily these days, but this man, along with Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, is easily a Manchester United Legend.
Take a bow, Paul, your comeback has been nothing less than extraordinary. Long may it continue.