I'm down but I'll come back stronger - Brogan

Last updated : 08 March 2008 By Bigrich.....
It's nearly a month since Stephen Brogan suffer the horror injury at MK Dons, which saw him with a double break of his leg.

"I'm really down right now, but I've had friends and family around me and supporting me and that's been great, At times like this you need that." Stephen said.

"I'm only 19 and I'd played every game this season. We've been up there at the top of the league and there have been other clubs interested in me. It was all going fantastically well and I couldn't have wished for anything better and then some-thing like this comes along and it's a complete nightmare. It kills you."

"I don't remember much about the injury. The ball went back towards the centre half and he left it for the keeper, but as he left it I remember them looking at each other and there being a bit of indecision. I tried to go in and just got there at the same time as the keeper, because obviously he rushed out in panic, and there was a massive bang. I thought it was my shin and remember thinking 'bloody hell, that's a bit sore'. I looked down and my leg was just flopping there."

But although the break was clean, with the specialist stating it was the 'best of a bad one', Stephen suffered complications during his stay in Milton Keynes general hospital; "I initially went in on the Saturday night and had the operation the next day and had the pot put on on Monday, I was only supposed to be in the hospital in Milton Keynes for three or four days but the night I had the pot on I had really bad pains all down my leg. They had to saw the pot off as an emergency and then they found that I had compartment syndrome and I had to be rushed back into theatre."

"I had my leg sliced to release it all and it had to be left for three days before they could partially close the wound up and then it had to be another three days before they could fully close it. It just dragged it all on. I was in for exactly two weeks and came home on the Saturday."

Brogan then went on to thank all the well wishes for thier cards and visits, and his parents who stayed in Milton Keynes throughout his stay after watching the game; "My mum and dad stayed down there while I was in hospital and I had loads of visitors. I had a lot of cards from the MK Dons fans as well as the Rotherham fans and the support I've had has been great, It's been great and I'd like to thank them all. You don't realise how much you are appreciated until something like this happens and it does give you a bit of confidence."

Brogan is adament that he will come back stronger though; "I'll be out for nine months so I'm looking at Christmas as a comeback and anything before then I'll take as a bonus. But there's a lot of hard work before then,"

"I've had lots of calls from ex-footballers telling me similar stories about broken legs and about coming back and doing better things. That's nice to hear and I certainly want to come back stronger."

Boss Mark Robins told the tiser that Brogan is already working towards regaining his fitness; "He is with Dennis Circuit every day now and he has already got 90 per cent bend in his knee. We'll get the stitches out and then he can begin the rehabilitation process, while we'll get him involved in work at the club to keep him alert."

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