Former Manchester United prospect Darron Gibson was unable to wash or take himself to the toilet in the wake of his traumatic injury.
Once tipped to emulate Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes, Gibson suffered the first major setback of his career in October 2013 while on international duty with Republic of Ireland. The midfielder sustained cruciate ligament damage after an awkward landing and was carried off in the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan.
Gibson, 34, was playing club football for Everton at the time and the major knee injury ruled him out for the remainder of the 2013/14 season. His wife, Danielle, watched the horrific incident live on television and she has recalled the painstaking process of nursing her husband back to fitness from one of the worst injuries a footballer can be dealt.
She can vividly remember seeing Gibson's "leg fall in half on the pitch", leaving doctors with no choice but to "shave his thigh muscle and create two new ligaments". Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Danielle praised Everton for the care they provided her husband but admits it was the "start of a very slippery slope" for his career prospects. She said: "We had to make him a bed downstairs, he had to sleep in a metal cast, I had to take him to the toilet, to bathe him, this was for 12 months."
Gibson, who earned 27 caps for his country, returned to fitness only to find David Moyes, the man who signed him for the Toffees in January 2012, had left for United with Roberto Martinez brought in as the Scot's replacement. His hopes of living up to the lofty billing he had earned when emerging from the Red Devils academy quickly faded and he was eventually consigned to playing for Everton's Under-23s before leaving Goodison Park in 2016.
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"They'd signed other midfielders, there was no place for him in the team anymore, he'd get the few minutes here and there but that's not what he wanted," Danielle said of Everton and her husband.
Gibson continued to struggle with injuries in the later years of his career and this also took its toll on his wife, who "felt helpless in a very chaotic world". He played for Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and Salford City before announcing his retirement after the end of the 2020/21 season, which Danielle admits was a "massive relief". However, she insists she is also a "very proud wife for everything that he has achieved in his career".
