Paul Gascoigne reveals he was rushed to hospital after breaking six ribs in a fall – as England legend opens up on latest health scare
Paul Gascoigne has revealed he suffered six broken ribs and a punctured lung in a fall over the festive period in another health scare.
The 58-year-old former England international said he had been left ‘in agony’ after suffering the injuries.
Gascoigne made the revelation on the podcast Clutch 9 and admitted he had been ‘panicking’ and ‘s****ing’ himself due to the pain as he was treated in hospital.
‘I was hanging something up and I fell backwards. I broke six ribs and I punctured a couple of lungs,’ Gascoigne said, as per the Sun.
‘I go to the hospital and I’m in agony obviously and they give me some pain relief. I just felt my neck getting bigger. I got the surgeon in quickly because I was panicking.
‘I could see my dad in the clouds and I was really panicking.
Paul Gascoigne has revealed he suffered six broken ribs and a punctured lung in a fall over the Christmas period
‘I’ve had 38 operations so this normally doesn’t bother me, but this time I was really s****ing myself.
‘I was saying, “please get the surgeon”. I was crying my eyes out.’
It is the latest health scare for the former England midfielder, who won 57 caps and is regarded as one of the country’s most gifted players of all time.
The former Newcastle and Tottenham star had been rushed intensive care last July after he had be found collapsed in the bedroom of his home in Poole.
Gascoigne had been discovered by Steve Foster, his close friend and personal assistant.
He was stabilised after being found to have been struggling with a throat condition, before later being released.
Gascoigne, who retired from football in 2004, has had health struggles for years and has spoken with painful honesty about his alcohol addiction.
In October, he admitted that he will never stop drinking and insisted that he plans to ‘die as Gazza‘ rather than change his present lifestyle.
The England legend has struggled with alcohol addiction and mental health problems in the wake of his retirement from football (pictured in 1996)
The 58-year-old was one of the most talented players of his generation during the 1990s
It followed him telling viewers during his appearance on Good Morning Britain that he still drinks alcohol, repeatedly breaking down as he recounted his struggles with substance abuse.
‘Jimmy Greaves stopped drinking, but that is Jimmy Greaves,’ Gascoigne said. ‘I am not Jimmy Greaves and I am not George Best.
‘I don’t get drunk because I hate my mum and dad or I hate the public. It is not about that. I do it for the sake of it. I might regret it. But I don’t think about yesterday, I don’t think about tomorrow. I just think about today and live for today.’
‘I have not changed, I cannot change, I would not know how to change,’ he added.
‘I will probably die as Gazza. But I have nothing to hide. The whole country knows what I have done now.
‘I drank because I wanted to drink, I regretted the consequences afterwards. Now if I have a relapse, I do not go for weeks on end like I did before. Looking back, I must have hurt my mum and dad. But you do not think about it. The person you hurt the most is yourself.’
Gascoigne was capped 57 times by England between 1988 and 1998 and is regarded as one of the country’s greatest ever players.
He played for several clubs including Newcastle United, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Everton.
Gascoigne won the FA Cup with Tottenham in 1991 and claimed two Scottish Premiership titles, the Scottish Cup and League Cup with Rangers.
