Dad was told he may not survive after spleen 'completely shattered' during Sunday league match

A footballer who had his spleen shattered in a horror tackle during a Sunday league match says he was told by doctors there was a chance he may not survive. Jordan Foster's spleen was so badly damaged he had to undergo surgery to remove it and will now spend the next two years on antibiotics.

The 30-year-old was playing away with AFC Lytham against AFC Albion on February 11 when, ten minutes before the final whistle at Stanley Park, he was involved in a blow which left him gasping for breath. "I've gone to chase a through ball and the keeper's come running out and that's when we've collided," he told LancsLive.

"I've gone down and I've got pain on my left side and I couldn't breathe, so I thought I had been winded or done a muscle or a rib or something. I took a minute to get my breath, gone off the pitch and sat on the sidelines for the last ten minutes of the game."

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Jordan says the next thing he remembers was the game finishing, and despite being in severe pain he managed to get himself dressed and back to his car. "It was at that point I thought, I need to go to the walk-in centre because the pain was just getting worse," Jordan added. "So I drove to the walk-in centre and I walked to the desk and they asked what was wrong.

"The walk-in centre was heaving. The whole waiting room was full and people were sat on the stairs and in corridors, it was absolutely manic for a Sunday."

Still in pain, and assuming he had a long wait ahead of him, Jordan took himself to a nearby pharmacy for ibuprofen. In hindsight, he admits this was a "bad idea" due to the nature of the painkiller acting as a blood thinner, but was at a loss at what else he could do. However,