Hull City

Ryan Mason 'relieved to be alive' following head injury

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 14 May 2017

Ryan Mason talks in depth about his clash of heads with Gary Cahill earlier this year, claiming that he remains "positive" he can make a full return to fitness.

Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has admitted that he considers himself fortunate to still be alive following his sickening clash of heads with Gary Cahill in January.

The Tigers' club-record signing required eight minutes of treatment on the pitch during the Premier League meeting, before undergoing surgery on a fractured skull at St Mary's Hospital in London.

Mason revealed earlier this week that he has no timescale on his return to the field, having only just made a fleeting visit to Hull's training ground, but right now he is simply grateful that the incident did not turn out worse than it did.

"It was pure relief that I was still here because it was serious," he told Sky Sports News. "It could have quite easily gone another way. I remember everything. I remember the doctor coming on, I remember having a conversation with him and the ambulance arrived. I wish I didn't to be honest. It wasn't a great 30 or 40 minutes. I don't see the need [to watch it back].

"I've dealt with it in a very good way and I'm positive about my recovery, but to sit there and look at the incident, I don't feel like I'd get any benefit from it. Sometimes you have a clash of heads and it feels a bit sore, but I remember the impact was huge. I was touching my head and it felt like it was pouring with blood, but I remember looking and there was nothing on my hand.

"For me that was a sign it was probably quite serious. As soon as the doc came on, the procedures he was going through did make me realise I was in a little bit of trouble. Thankfully the doc I had from Hull and the medical team were fantastic with me. Mark [Waller], the doctor, made some crucial decisions on the pitch and in the ambulance that did help me with my recovery.

"There were people that maybe wanted to go to a different hospital and get me scanned there, but he knew it was a fracture and how serious it was. We drove past two or three hospitals to get to this specific hospital because he knew I would be requiring surgery on my brain."

Mason featured 16 times in the league for Hull prior to his ongoing spell on the sidelines.