Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, has talked about his recovery from a brain haemorrhage. He remembered feeling afraid and unsure after his emergency surgery in 2018.
Ferguson had the haemorrhage in May 2018. Four months later, he returned to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United play Wolves in the Premier League.
Even though Ferguson managed the club for 26 years and became one of football’s most successful managers, he admitted he felt nervous about returning to the stadium.
Ferguson told BBC Sport on Friday, “I wish I could say I was comfortable. I wasn’t.”
Ferguson went to the match with his wife, Cathy. When they sat down in the directors’ box, the supporters gave them a standing ovation
“My wife was with me, and she was nearly crying. When we sat down, she said ‘that’s fantastic’,” he recalled.
Ferguson was 76 when he suffered the haemorrhage, having retired from management five years earlier. His recovery was gradual, with the early stages proving particularly challenging.
“I had lost my voice; I couldn’t speak,” he said. “That was a frightening moment.”
He also remembered visits from his grandsons during the recovery period, when they saw firsthand how much he was struggling to speak.
“I remember my grandsons coming to see me and I had lost my voice,” Ferguson said.
A therapist later helped him rebuild his speech with a series of exercises.
“Then they brought in a therapist and she started doing things like asking me to write down the names of birds, names of animals, names of rivers,” he said.
“That way my voice came back.”
As he approaches his 85th birthday, Ferguson says he is doing well despite dealing with a few minor injuries.