Arsenal's Petr Cech reveals he offered support to Ryan Mason after Hull midfielder suffered fractured skull

Cech in action for Arsenal
Getty Images
James Benge8 February 2017

Petr Cech has revealed he offered his support to Ryan Mason after the Hull midfielder fractured his skull in a match against Chelsea last month.

Mason was admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in London within hours of the clash of heads with Gary Cahill in the game at Stamford Bridge on January 22.

The former Tottenham midfielder underwent surgery and left hospital on January 30. He is currently recovering at home with his family.

Cech can empathise with Mason’s experience having also suffered a depressed fracture in a game for Chelsea against Reading in 2006. The goalkeeper has worn a rugby-style headguard ever since though his injuries have cleared.

“I offered him my support because I have experience in what he’s going through, and I’m happy to share my experience if it helps him,” Cech told Arsenal Player. “The possibility to be able to offer him my experience, it was the first thing I had in my mind to do.

“I’m obviously glad that he’s back home and that he’s started his recovery process. Hopefully he will get well very soon.”

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Hull | 22/01/2017

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There had been fears for Cech’s career after he clashed with Stephen Hunt but he was able to return to football just over three months after suffering the injury.

Cech was soon back to his peak and would go on to win the Premier League Golden Glove award on three more occasions in addition to a host of prizes at Chelsea. He hopes his experience offers encouragement to Mason.

“When you’re in this situation, you need people around you to help,” Cech added. “Then you have someone who has the experience and can tell you, ‘Don’t worry about this, it’s completely normal, and don’t worry about that because I went through it too’.

“It can obviously help because you have a lot of doubts, a lot of questions and nobody seems to have the answer. You can have someone who went through that and they can tell you not to worry about it, it will just take time and that you can carry on doing what you’re doing.

“You need your closest around you to help you when you don’t feel right. It’s a situation which not only involves the person who got injured, but also the people who are supporting him, the people around him like his family. Even for them it’s a challenging situation.”

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