Hibs Fan's First Words After Being Unable To Speak For Three Months Were: 'Hearts Are Sh**e'

A stroke wasn't enough to quash a 22-year old Hibernian supporter's hatred for rivals Hearts.

As per the Daily Record, Darren Thomson could not speak for three months after suffering a stroke in June, which saw him lose all feeling in his body.

It started with a blinding headache on the back and right side of his head while he was watching YouTube videos with his friend.

At first Darren did not think too much of it but minutes later he could not feel the left side of his body or lift up his left arm.

He was then rushed to the local hospital, where scans showed that he had suffered a stroke as well as a severe bleed on the brain.

Transferred to the stroke ward at the Borders General Hospital in October, he had to undergo two operations to help get rid of the excess fluid in his brain.

In intensive care and depending on a life support machine for around 12 weeks after the first procedure, his father Phil, 55, said doctors did not think he would make it.

He was forced to have the second operation in August so that the excess fluid in his brain would be emitted naturally and a few weeks after going under the knife, the tube in his throat was no longer needed.

However, he was still unable to talk. Until one day when Darren heard the nurses talking about Hearts and much to their surprise, joined in the conversation and told them, "Hearts are shite!".

Image: PA

He told the Daily Record: "It was so scary not being able to speak. It's so hard to put into words what it's like not being able to speak.

"I was so confused, I didn't even know what was happening or anything. But when I had a Hearts doctor looking after me, someone had said 'what's Hearts' and I just said 'Hearts are s**t'.

"It just came to me, I was so happy that I spoke out, everyone laughed. It felt so good to just hear my own voice again."

With Darren still in a wheelchair, his dad has taken on the role of caring for him full-time since he was released in December.

But despite not being able to do things he used to be able to do, Darren is full of positivity and is vying to walk again when he is best man at his dad's wedding in June.

We wish him nothing but the best in his recovery and can only doff our caps to for his sheer disdain of Hearts after all he's been through.

Topics: Football News, Football, Scottish Football, SPFL, Scotland

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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