Michail Antonio suffered a near-death experience after his horror car crash last year and now the West Ham star has met up with the paramedics who saved his life and thanked them
West Ham star Michail Antonio has thanked the paramedics who saved his life following his horror car crash last year, as they told the forward he was “very repetitive” after being rescued from his vehicle. The 35-year-old was taken to hospital after his £260,000 Ferrari crashed into a tree in Essex in December.
Antonio suffered a broken leg and was ruled out for the rest of the season, undergoing surgery following the serious accident.
He previously admitted he “almost wasn’t there for his children” and he has now decided to meet up with the medics who rescued him and helped him recover during a difficult time.
During a day with BBC One Morning Live, he met up with Essex and Herts Air Ambulance workers Rob Moon and Dr James Moloney.
“Meeting these people who saved my life has been very humbling,” he said, telling the pair: “I want to say thank you, because obviously I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you guys. You saved my life, so you guys are basically my heroes.”
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When asked what he remembered about the incident, Antonio said: “I don’t remember their faces at all. It’s crazy because of how important you guys were to me.”
The Jamaica international asked Dr Moloney if he spoke to them after the crash, to which he replied: “Yes, you were incredibly repetitive, but that happens when people bump their head.
“We kept asking about your football, who your manager was, whether you are enjoying your football. From our point of view, you were talking which was really reassuring for us.”
Antonio admitted his family “probably experienced the incident more than I did” as he said: “They’ve gone to the hospital, they’ve come to see me, they’ve seen how I was.
“I don’t remember my face being cut or anything… and going down for surgery the next day, I don’t remember doing that. But they were all in the hospital, they have those memories, they lived it whereas I didn’t live it as much as them.”
Antonio is still hoping to feature in football in the near future despite his severe injuries. The shocking crash saw him shatter his femur in four places and he also had a pole placed into his thigh.
He admitted the near-death experience has given him a new outlook on life and said his children had found it tough to cope with.
“It’s the biggest injury I’ve ever had in my career. But the fact that I’m already two to three months ahead of where I should be, I know that I’ll play again, and I know that once I’m playing the game I’ll get the sharpness back.
The most difficult part is that I almost wasn’t there for my children. It’s just made me happy, positive about life, because I’ve got another chance at life.”
“During this, we kept it away from the kids. My eldest saw it, and he struggled with it. He’s 13, and obviously people were showing photos of the car. So he came down and saw me in the hospital. But the younger ones, they never really knew how bad the situation was. We kind of avoided letting them get on the internet.”
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