Fast action helped Eduardo

Swift action from medical staff saved striker's foot

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 25th February 2008

Birmingham v Arsenal Eduardo in agony

Eduardo: Could have been even worse

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The horrific broken leg suffered by Eduardo on Saturday could have seen the Arsenal striker lose his foot, if medics had not acted so swiftly.

Leading osteopath and physiotherapist Tim Allardyce believes that only the prompt treatment of the club's medical staff prevented the Croatian from requiring an amputation.

Such was the severity of the injury that Allardyce feels even intensive surgery may not be enough to allow the striker to make a full recovery in the future.

Emergency

"You can lose the foot, simple as," he told BBC Radio Five Live.

"Once the foot dislocates like that, it can badly damage the blood vessels and it's very, very serious.

"The foot needs to be relocated immediately or almost immediately to save it and emergency surgery is completely necessary.

"Imagine your worst ankle sprain and make it about 10 times worse and you're getting close to where Eduardo is.

Mobility

"He could be out for several months. We'd expect a normal person to be out for about six months.

"With the level of fitness he'll need to get back to, it could be anywhere around the nine months mark."

He added: "Potentially, the bones will heal but there's all the other damage around the area, such as the ligament damage, the tendon damage, the soft tissue damage, the damage to the joint capsule.

"He's going to have to do an awful lot of work to regain full mobility and strength to the ankle to get him up to the standard of playing international football. Whether he can do that or not, I'm not sure."

Confidence

Allardyce also revealed that any person sustaining such an injury is likely to suffer psychological trauma which could prevent them from putting themselves in a similar situation ever again.

"Once you've sustained such a serious injury, you'll always tend to be aware of it before you regain full strength and confidence," he said.

"It will have a big psychological effect, certainly for the next year, maybe for several months after that."