Grimsby defender Josh Emmanuel has opened up on the mystery illness that couldn’t just have cost him his career but also so much more.
Thankfully, the 25-year-old is now fighting fit and healthy again, and already producing the kind of form he showed in the Championship with Hull before his enforced break. And he cannot wait to test himself against Kaoru Mitoma on Sunday afternoon as the Mariners take on Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and show he can still operate at a much higher level than League Two.
Grimsby are in the last eight after a shock victory over Southampton and Emmanuel sees no reason why they can’t claim another scalp. But as excited as he is about the game, there will of course be a sense of perspective whatever the outcome after he missed more than a year of football because of the blood clot which caused him to collapse during a training session with the Tigers.
"November 18, 2021 … it feels like a lifetime ago now,” said Emmanuel, who hasn’t before revealed the specifics of the issue which kept him out until last month. "I woke up like any other day but, during the warm-up, I was just thinking, ‘Okay, this is a bit more intense than normal’.
"But then I knew there was a problem when I couldn’t really get my words out, and I took a step back and must have sat down on the ground — that’s when things started happening. I tried to get back up but couldn’t move the left side of my body.
“People were saying, ‘Calm down’, but I just wanted to get back to the warm-up. When the medical staff at Hull — to whom I’ll be eternally grateful — came and assisted me, that was when I knew, ‘Okay, this is what is going on’. Straight after it happened, I wanted to play on the Saturday and I was getting a bit angry with the doctor when she said I couldn’t.
"Then a couple of days later I was hearing I might never play again, which thank God wasn’t the case. Since then, it has been an interesting 18 months but more because I could function like normal.
“I was on medication — Warfarin, quite a low dosage — but because it’s a blood thinner I wasn’t able to play. I stopped taking it in October 2022, though, and thankfully I passed another check recently so they are going to check me every year now. We never got to the bottom of why I had the clot, it was very random and I’m just grateful I’ve recovered.”
Grateful, too, to Grimsby, who have signed Emmanuel until the end of the season despite knowing they will struggle to hold on to a player of his quality given he will be wanted by clubs much further up the food chain come the summer. He added: “I’m very grateful to Paul Hurst, Chris Doig and the club in general. I knew I needed to play games and I’m getting back to the level I was at before the clot.”
Emmanuel knows the level required against Brighton will be huge. But he said: “We’re all humans, none of them are Superman. I’ve played against Solly March, he’s a tough test, but I’m looking forward to facing Mitoma and challenging myself against him, he’s in form right now.”
While Emmanuel’s focus is on Grimsby, he is also working hard behind the scenes to set up a charity, called Back and Better, to help others who have also suffered non-visible injuries. He added: “The time I was out has definitely given me a lot of time to think about how I can use my experience to help other people.
"I’ve been building up a charity that is on its way and will help people who don’t have visible injuries. It’s a lot of work but it will definitely be worth it, and I’ll be happy to speak to other players and other clubs.
"To anyone who is going through a dark time, a lonely time, or they’re not doing what they love, I would just encourage them to remain positive, remain focused on their targets, their goals, their dreams and keep their faith. I’m a Christian and, while I’m not going to impose my beliefs on others, my faith helped me through a really dark time and hopefully now it’s the start of a new chapter.”
