Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has spoken out after being hospitalised last week due to a 'mad virus' that left him fearing for his life.

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• Ferdinand opens up on health scare
• Was rushed to hospital last week
• Missed punditry duties for Arsenal's clash against PSG

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former Manchester United star and TV pundit Ferdinand was supposed to be a part of TNT Sports' coverage of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain last week, but he missed the show after being rushed to the hospital. A couple of hours before kick-off, Ferdinand wrote on social media: "Gutted to be missing the Semi-Finals this week on @footballontnt!! Wishing the team all the best — I’ll be watching every minute from the iPad!"

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The 46-year-old has finally broken his silence on his health condition and revealed how he has endured a harrowing experience. Ferdinand claimed he even feared for his life at one point after being rushed to hospital with a serious illness.

• WHAT RIO FERDINAND SAID

  Speaking on the podcast, the Red Devils icon said: "I had a mad virus. 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."

  He added: "I had to go to hospital and the doctor even said to me, 'Do you want an ambulance'? So that's when I knew. 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."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Ferdinand is now recovering and will no doubt hope to resume punditry duties soon. His former Manchester United team have endured a disastrous Premier League campaign but do have a Europa League final clash against Tottenham Hotspur to look forward to on May 21.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News