FORMER Manchester United star Darron Gibson has opened up about his addiction to sleeping pills and revealed he would have died had he kept going.
The 35-year-old played 60 games for the Red Devils between 2005 and 2012, winning the Premier League and two League Cups.
He went on to play for the likes of Everton, Sunderland and Wigan, before he retired at the end of the 2020/21 season following one year with Salford.
But injuries plagued midfielder Gibson throughout his career and he played just 245 club games across a 16-year period.
Yet it was after retirement when the ex-Man Utd man really began to struggle mentally, admitting he was taking between 12 and 14 sleeping tablets per day.
This then came to a head last year when he was hospitalised following a seizure.
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Fortunately, Gibson recovered and is now in a positive place, but the harrowing details of his predicament are still incredibly scary.
Speaking to The 42, he said: “I don’t even think I was functioning at that point. Looking back at pictures, I was grey, if I had kept going I would have died. I was taking 12 to 14 sleeping tablets a night.
“I was rushed to hospital and I didn’t mention any sleeping tablets to anyone. Danielle [his wife] knew I took them but she had no idea to what extent. I was good at hiding it.
“Sometimes I’d take them all at once when we’d be going to sleep and I’d say I was bringing up a drink of water for her.
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“I’m not embarrassed or ashamed to say now that I was in a bad way but in the hospital I wasn’t telling anyone.
“They thought it was epilepsy but I knew it wasn’t. It was sleeping tablets, it had been going on for years by now.
“The doctor rang and said my brain and heart were fine.”
Everton star Dele Alli recently admitted his struggles with sleeping pill addiction.
And Gibson admitted he “felt horrendous” when he saw Alli document his troubles earlier this year.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
