England centre Mike Tindall admitted he could have died after suffering a punctured lung and torn liver against Wales.
England centre on road to recovery after horror injury
Mike Tindall said he was lucky to be alive after puncturing a lung and tearing his liver against Wales.
The England centre, 29, suffered the injury after falling awkwardly on the boot of Wales winger Mark Jones following a tackle during the RBS Six Nations opener at Twickenham on February 2.
He was stretchered off struggling to breathe and admits the injury was far more serious than initially thought.
"I didn't realise it at the time but I had a big tear in my liver," Tindall told the
Mail on Sunday.
"It was more than an inch wide and an inch deep and my condition was compounded by air released between the lungs and ribs from the hole in my lung.
Blood loss
"The biggest concern was internal bleeding. I lost two pints of blood into my membrane. Luckily it clotted and stemmed the flow.
"If it had leaked out much more and floated around in my stomach then I would have been in big trouble.
"If the boot had struck me an inch or two higher or lower then I would have just cracked a couple of ribs.
"But what really worried me was the fact that I was struggling desperately to breathe."
Tindall - nicknamed 'the fridge' due to his imposing 6ft 2in, 16 stone build - will sit out the remainder of the Six Nations after being released from hospital on Friday.
"I noted things couldn't be too good because I had three needles sticking in my arms and another two in my neck," he added.
"I've grown used to serious injuries over the years, although I've never experienced anything like this before.
"I'm just glad to be here to talk about it."
