 |
|
|
|
|
|
This article appeared in The Sunday Times on February 6, 2000 and was written by Jonathan Norcroft
It was a nondescript game, played one year ago today, a draw against Stenhousemuir in which he did not even perform well. But Kenny Gilbert can see it as clearly as yesterday. In fact, it might be a vision which lingers for the rest of his life. Ross County v Stenhousemuir, February 6th 1999, was the last time Gilbert took to a football field with two working eyes.
Only Bert Trautmann, the goalkeeper who carried on in the 1956 FA Cup Final after breaking his neck, can rival Gilbert's story. Following that Stenhousemuir match, he contracted an infection in his left eye, which became an ulcer and robbed him of vision. His doctor stitched the eyelid up and told him to rest. Instead, Gilbert reported for County's pre-season training.
"I wanted to do the running so I could keep fit, but then Neale Cooper, my manager, said 'wanna try it?' and I began playing in the practice games," he said. "Then he played me in a friendly and when the season started I was still in the team."
In November, doctors reopened the eye but, though the infection had cleared, they discovered scarring on the cornea which means he will never see with it again. The only solution is a cornea transplant, but Gilbert asked for the lid to be sewn shut again, deciding to put off the operation until summer, so that he can help County's promotion campaign.
By doing so, he is risking a lot. "If the ball hits off my eye, or I get an elbow in it, I could lose my sight for good, but I can't think about that or else I'll go mental," Gilbert said. "There's no guarantee I'll be able to play again at this level after the transplant. Of all the eye operations, it's got one of the highest success rates, but there's a chance my body will reject the new cornea.
"So I appreciate each game I can play right now, because it might be my last. I love football - it's the only thing I do - and my family and my fiancée are 100% behind me. It's only the doctors who want me to stop."
He wants to keep going for his manager - "because he put himself under pressure by still playing me" - and for County because the club rescued him from an unhappy spell at Hull City and kept him full-time when they were in the Third Division and could ill afford to do so.
This is an ordinary man with extraordinary courage. "A lot of people have said I'm brave, but I get a bit embarrassed because I'm only doing what others might do in my shoes. The only thing that's changed about me is that I've learnt not to look too far ahead. I just look forward to playing the next week."
Gilbert, 24, a vaunted youth player who never quite broke through at Aberdeen, had been earning five-star reviews before his injury and was being mooted as a future SPL player. "That's just life," he said. "The SPL's still my ambition, but the operation will have to be successful because I couldn't play there with one eye. If it's not, my options in football are limited because although Neale's taken a chance on me, how many other managers would choose me over a player with two good eyes?"
Supporters, sceptical at first, have been showing Gilbert great sympathy since he explained his problem in a newspaper interview last year. Teammates, who have tried covering an eye in training, are amazed Gilbert continues. His only concession to the injury has been moving from midfield, from where he used to captain County, to right back.
"There's too much happening in the middle of the park for me to stay there, because I can't see someone coming from over my shoulder. In defence I'm facing the play," he said. "I was worried I'd end up making some big mistakes, but the only problem has been getting caught on the ball a bit."
Off the field he still drives ("badly") and plays golf - the only change has been giving up racket sports. Though County have faltered in recent weeks, he still reckons that with "the best squad in the division" they can help him achieve his ambition.
"To wake up in May with sight in two eyes and County promoted. I just hope whoever I'm getting the cornea from had good vision. But whatever happens to me, I'll keep playing football, even if it's just in a public park. I can't imagine life without it."