BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Blackburn Rovers (original) (raw)

Blackburn Rovers defender Stig Bjornebye has revealed how he almost lost a foot - only nine months after almost losing his sight.

He was nursing an injury in his native Norway when he was rushed to hospital complaining of numbness in his foot.

Doctors were forced to by-pass two failing arteries in a five-hour operation to save his foot and Bjornebye is now unlikely to play again this season.

Bjornebye has been out with a foot problem since picking up an injury in the Worthington Cup quarter-final against Wigan in December.

He said: "I have been told that I am very fortunate not to lose my foot so I am very grateful to the surgeons."

Bjornebye only returned to action recently after seven months out of action with a fractured eye socket.

He was forced to undergo corrective surgery after complaining about blurred vision.