Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa has revealed he could have lost his leg earlier this season
Winger reveals he required second operation after infection
Hatem Ben Arfa has revealed he could have lost his leg earlier this season if he had not undergone an emergency second operation.
The Newcastle United winger suffered a double fracture of his leg following a challenge by Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong in early October.
He had initial surgery on the injury, but several weeks later developed an infection which required another operation to prevent surgeons cutting off his leg.
"I needed a second operation because I had an infection," Ben Arfa told
Canal Plus.
"It was a big infection which could have been very dangerous.
"I was told that I could have had my leg cut off if they didn't operate on me very quickly."
Respect
Ben Arfa had been on loan at Newcastle from Marseille at the time of the injury, but subsequently agreed a permanent deal at St James' Park in January.
He is expected to resume light training this week, but conceded there was a stage when he thought he may have had to quit due to the severity of the injury.
The 24-year-old added: "You take a blow, that's for sure, and I started seeing myself as someone whose career was over, who no longer plays football.
"That brought me closer to my friends and I started to really think about things because I wasn't in the spotlight.
"I travelled a bit and the break did me a lot of good and hopefully it stands me in good stead for the future.
"Newcastle showed me so much respect and a lot of live that I want to give back to them.
"I will give everything I can for this club because they trusted me and, for a human being, that is really touching."
