Rio Ferdinand says the back injuries from his football career have left him needing a wheelchair – and regularly being hospitalised.
Ferdinand, 47, had a stellar career for Manchester United and England, playing almost 600 matches for a string of clubs and his country before retiring in 2015.
But it seems the injuries he tried to fight off in his career – using painkilling injections and tablets – are now catching up with him. The former centre back and his wife Kate quit Britain to move to Dubai last year and he has now revealed he regularly has to use a wheelchair and make visits to the hospital.
Ferdinand, who otherwise looks the pinnacle of fitness in new images published by Men’s Health UK, said: ‘I’ve had a bad back for a long time. I’ve got injuries that I had from my career… I was on tablets and injections for six years to play games.
‘That’s affected me. I get some bad moments of back pain where I have to be in a hospital for a couple of days or in a wheelchair for a couple of days. It’s mad, but it just comes out of nowhere.
Rio Ferdinand made the revelations in an interview with Men’s Health magazine
The former Manchester United star took painkilling injections to get through his career
‘I’ve been seeing a physio for the first time since I retired. He’s been doing loads of manipulations and whatnot, and within his building there’s also my personal trainer, so he feeds him information about my training.
‘There’s a holistic approach to what I’m doing now and hopefully that’s going to put me in good stead. Rather than fixing when it’s broken, you actually prevent [injuries]. I know my s*** now. But I’m 47 years old. It took me all that time.’
More to follow.
