Wolves forward Raul Jimenez has said it's a "miracle" that he's returned to the pitch after a horrific skull fracture put his life in danger.
Jimenez clashed heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz last November, leaving him with a fractured skull that required him to stay in hospital for 10 days.
The Mexico international completed his comeback at the weekend, as he played all 90 minutes of Wolves' 1-0 defeat to Leicester City on the Premier League's opening day.
What was said?
Speaking on the emergency surgery he required after the injury, Jimenez said: "[There was] the skull fracture, the bone broke and there was a little bit of bleeding inside the brain. It was pushing my brain to the inside and that is why the surgery had to be quick. It was a really good job by the doctors.”
“Since the first moment [the doctors] told me the risks,” the 30-year-old added on continuing his career. “Because they are doctors they have to tell you the truth and you have to take it.
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"The skull fracture did take a little longer than we all expected to heal but it is a miracle to be here.”
Jimenez added that he has no memory of the clash with Luiz.
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“I remember we arrived at the stadium, I left my things in the dressing room, went out with my team-mates to see the pitch and then we returned to the dressing room – and then it’s like lights out,” he said.
“I remember nothing else. I can remember when I first woke up in the hospital and I can remember some other things from the hospital but nothing really clear.”
Though doctors told Jimenez he may never play again, the striker insisted that he always believed he'd be back on the pitch.
"I never thought about finishing my career or stopping playing. There was a chance of that but I was always confident I was going to return.”
Jimenez looks to return to scoring ways
After successfully making his return to the pitch, the next step for Jimenez is to regain the scoring form he displayed prior to his injury.
Jimenez scored 13 Premier League goals in 2018-19 and followed that up with a sensational 2019-20 campaign that saw him increase that number to 17 goals.
The forward scored four times in 10 league games last term before his injury.