Rio Ferdinand has broken his silence on a health scare that left him hospitalised for a number of days and saw him miss punditry duty for the second legs of the recent European semi-finals.
The issue, which Mail Sport understands also affected other members of Ferdinand’s family, resulted in the former Manchester United defender undergoing a brain scan and being offered an ambulance.
Ahead of Arsenal’s defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their European clash, Ferdinand shared a selfie from his hospital bed with one thumb up. He explained he would miss the game before also sitting out Manchester United’s home game against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Ferdinand has been a regular part of TNT’s European coverage in recent years, and has often been a co-commentator for United’s games. Robbie Savage joined Darren Fletcher at Old Trafford, with Martin Keown also stepping up in the week.
While his employers wished him well, Ferdinand was coy on his situation and didn’t speak on it until this week, when he opened up on the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents.
The 46-year-old went into detail about how he struggled in his bed, vomited and was in hospital for a number of days before heading home.
Rio Ferdinand has broken his silence on the health scare that left him hospitalised last week
The former defender has explained how he felt like his ‘eyes were going to pop out’ before he went to hospital
He also underwent a brain scan and was offered and ambulance by a doctor before missing European punditry duty
‘My wife, the women in my family, will never know… man flu,’ he first jokes. ‘That’s what it’s really about, man flu.
He then continued: ‘I had a mad virus, bro. I thought lights were out at some point, I thought it was gonna happen. I thought I was minutes away from lights out, seriously.
‘I was in my house, I was in my bed like this [pained expression] and I couldn’t even open my eyes.
‘Then, the headache I had… I don’t get migraines or nothing else so I don’t know what they’re like. I thought my head was in a vice and my eyes were going to pop out.
‘Then, I was being sick, projectile vomiting in the toilet, I got back to bed and I was having vertigo. I was holding onto the sheets, I didn’t know where I was. It was crazy.’
Ferdinand then went to hospital, and revealed he went into a state of panic when the doctor mentioned a brain scan and offered him an ambulance.
He was well enough to post on social media from his hospital bed – sharing a selfie and giving his opinion on the penalty PSG were awarded against Arsenal – but wasn’t taking any chances with an early exit.
‘I had to go to hospital and the doctor even said to me, “Do you want an ambulance”?’ he continued. ‘So that’s when I knew.’
Ferdinand was absent from coverage of Arsenal’s defeat by PSG and Manchester United’s win over Athletic Bilbao
It is likely he will be back on screens this weekend after returning home after a few days
‘He went, “We’re going to get your brain scanned”. I thought it was a virus or a flu or something so when he mentioned brain scan and the ambulance, the panic was nuts.
‘I went to hospital and I was in there for a few days. I couldn’t even enjoy the hospital food. The soup and the ice cream normally does wonders.’
Ferdinand was last part of TNT Sports’ coverage of Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Fulham in Birmingham last Saturday, but could return to screens this weekend.
The former defender received some criticism for his commentary during United’s dramatic quarter-final comeback win against Lyon last month, with legendary broadcaster Clive Tyldesley claiming Ferdinand and Robbie Savage celebrating the Red Devils’ late goals made the coverage similar to a fan channel.
TNT Sports and Ferdinand’s representatives were been approached for comment.
