Sir Alex Ferguson has opened up about the "terrifying" experience of losing his voice after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
The legendary former Manchester United manager was rushed to Salford Royal Hospital in May 2018 after a bleed on the brain. He was placed in an induced coma before going into intensive care.
After having emergency brain surgery, the 79-year-old was discharged four days later.
Ferguson has since made a full recovery from the haemorrhage and is often seen watching United games from the stands at Old Trafford.
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But in a recent Q&A session at the premiere of the "Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In'" documentary, he spoke about the terrifying reality of the situation.
"I lost my voice, just could not get a word out, and that was terrifying - absolutely terrifying." Sir Alex said.
"And everything was going through my mind: is my memory going to come back? Am I ever going to speak again?
"There were five brain haemorrhages that day. Three died. Two survived. You know you are lucky.
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"It was a beautiful day, I remember that. I wondered how many sunny days I would ever see again. I found that difficult."
Ferguson spoke about how his speech was effected after the brain haemorrhage but after working with a leading professional speech therapist, he was relieved to get his voice back.
"I would have hated to lose my memory. It would have been a terrible burden on my family, if I was sitting in the house not knowing who I am," he said.
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"The speech therapist came and told me to write down all the members of my family, of my football team. She asked me questions about animals, fish, birds. Eventually, after 10 days my voice came back.
"I realised, having gone through all that, my memory was fine."
An intimate documentary on Sir Alex Ferguson's life will be released in May, featuring previously unseen footage of the Manchester United boss.
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'Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give Up' will look back over the most important moments in Fergie's career and life in football.
As well as interviews with himself and his family, ex-players such as Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and Gordon Strachan are also involved.
The original motivation for the film, the 79-year-old has explained, was a fear that one day his memory might start to fail. So it was vital to recount all of his incredible, personal stories now.
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"Losing my memory was my biggest fear when I suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2018," Ferguson said when the film, set to be shown on Amazon Prime, was announced.
"In the making of this film I was able to revisit the most important moments of my life, good and bad. Having my son Jason direct this film has ensured an honest and intimate account."
Topics: Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League
