SIR ALEX FERGUSON is “grateful for three extra years” after being “terrified” of losing his speech and memory following a brain haemorrhage.
The legendary ex-Manchester United manager says his attitude to life has changed after collapsing in 2018 and needing emergency surgery.
Fergie also believes he was “very fortunate” he clattered into a shoe rack – as the commotion alerted wife Cathy to his situation.
The Scot, 79, told the BBC: “I tried to get out my bed and just collapsed.
“I was very fortunate because I fell against a shoe rack, and all the shoes fell out and made a noise, and Cathy was downstairs.
“She came up and got me sat up against the wall, and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Fergie’s biggest worry after his operation was losing his memory.
He added: “I always depended on that.
“Then my two grandsons were in with me, and all of a sudden I stopped talking, I just couldn’t get a word out.
“And at that moment I was a bit terrified, to be honest with you.
“And I’m starting to think ‘What are we going to do now? You can’t talk, has my memory gone?’
“And then the speech therapist started. She was fantastic, got me to write all the names of my family, all the names of my players, and then about ten days later it came back.
“All of my life I have appreciated the NHS, none more so with that experience, they were fantastic. And I owe it to them really.”
Having been famously intense during 27 years as an all-conquering Old Trafford boss, Fergie says his huge health care has in one way relaxed his thinking about life.
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He said of his new outlook: “Probably not taking things too seriously in terms of knowing that you’re vulnerable…
“If I go tomorrow I’ll be grateful for three years extra I had. That’s a feeling I’ve had for quite a while now.”
The BBC interview comes ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In – a movie directed by his son Jason for cinema and Amazon Prime release.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
