Jack Wilshere almost quit football during Arsenal injuries due to son's seizures

West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere is hoping to be fully fit for next season after a torrid time with injury
West Ham United via Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj12 June 2019

Jack Wilshere has revealed how he nearly quit playing football while at Arsenal after struggling to cope with his recovery from a serious injury - which occurred at the same time as his son was suffering from seizures.

The midfielder, now at West Ham, made the revelation during a documentary with Athlete's Stance in which he admitted he experienced four months of sleepless nights as he worried about the health of his son, Archie, and, as a result, "forgot about football".

Wilshere, who was also recovering from a serious injury at the time, said: "I always think about one injury, and it always plays in my head.

"It was in 2016, maybe 2015, and I picked up an injury in training.

"It was tough to take because I was making my way back to where I wanted to be and I would come home and, all of a sudden, my four-year-old son was having seizures on the floor.

"It happened time and time and time again and every day for four months.

"There'd be times in the middle of the night, I'd be rushing to the hospital and me and my wife would probably sit up most nights because, most of the time, the seizures were happening in the middle of the night.

"So we would put him to bed but we couldn't sleep.

"I just forgot about football. I remember saying to my wife: 'I’m not sure I can do this any more.'

"It makes you realise football isn't everything. That's why I speak so highly of Arsene Wenger, because he was brilliant. He said to me 'You deal with your son, however long it takes' and that's why this injury took so long.

"For the first four, five months of that rehab I didn't want to be rehabbing, I was in and out of hospitals, I wasn’t sleeping - with my son - and I didn’t really care, to be honest with you, because my main focus was him.

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

"I sort of switched off from the outside world a little bit."

Wilshere went on to leave Arsenal for London rivals West Ham in 2018, and the midfielder hopes he can say farewell to his injury troubles for good and start the new season fit and healthy.

"Thankfully now, my son is good," the 27-year-old said. "Thanks to the doctors and the specialists he’s good and under control now.

"He’s been asking me all the time ‘Dad, when are you back?’ and I want to come back for him.

"Not just for him, but my daughter [Delilah] – she loves it – and my new baby [Siena] hasn’t seen me play football yet, so I need to do it for her as well.

"You should never give up. I want to play for as long as possible. I do genuinely love football. It’s my life, it’s my kids’ lives, we’re a football family.

"My goal is to get back in the team and win as many games as possible. At the moment, that is all I’m focused on."

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