'I'm lucky to be alive': NI keeper Carson returns to game after suffering potentially fatal blood clot
The 30-year-old is back playing again - seven months following dvt
Last updated 1st Jul 2019
It was last November at the age of 30 that Trevor Carson was diagnosed with a potentially-fatal blood clot.
Shortly after playing for Northern Ireland in the Nations League against Austria, he visited A&E with a niggle after some encouragement from his mum.
Doctors initially feared a cancer diagnosis, so there was almost a sense of relief for Carson, despite the severity of the deep vein thrombosis he had developed.
It caused him to miss six months of the season, but it could have cost him his career.
"At the start, you're just happy to be alive. But then around halfway through recovery, I start to think, 'what if it the clot comes back, what if I'm on this medication for life?'" said Carson.
His road to recovery culminated last week in a return to pitch in Belfast. The goalkeeper played the full 90 minutes as Motherwell took on Crusaders.
"When you haven't played, you're thinking about silly little things, your position, where are you on the pitch? It's a bit like when you have your summer break off, it's probably not much different from that, but I just feel so lucky to be out there."
"I'm just grateful. Before the game the lads were asking me how I feel, and everything's a blessing now after what happened," said Carson.
Carson's close call was as frightening as it was unexpected, and the Downpatrick native says it's given him a newfound appreciation for his profession.
""All those little things you take for granted, you now cherish them a little bit more. We're so lucky to have this job, and sometimes you don't appreciate it. It shouldn't take what I went through to make you realise what you have, but now I certainly don't take it for granted."
"I know what it's like to be out, and to come close to not playing again. So every day I'll step onto the pitch and just be the best I can be.