Exclusive: Ex-Sunderland man reveals career doubts after life-threatening injury but thanks fans for support

Patrick Almond - known affectionately as Paddy - was on course to realising his dream of playing the beautiful game professionally before misfortune struck... not once but twice.

A product of the famed Wallsend Boy’s Club, Paddy was picked up by Sunderland as a youngster and stayed for eight years, making his professional debut in the Papa John’s Trophy against Manchester United’s under-23s side at the Stadium of Light in 2021.

After leaving Sunderland the following summer, Paddy was assessing his next steps in football before being involved in a road traffic collision in Manchester - causing serious and life-threatening head injuries.

It was a tough time for the family but ever the fighter, Paddy battled his way back to full fitness and was given the green light to return to football after recovering. The trajectory had started to look upwards again.

Time at local club Shildon followed before Darlington in the National League North came calling. Still just a teenager at the time, there was a more than good chance that the Quakers could provide Paddy with a springboard back into the professional ranks.

Unfortunately, bad luck struck once again during a game away at Southend United when Paddy came off in the second half and was rushed to hospital with a suspected concussion.

Following a brain scan at Southend Hospital, Paddy was diagnosed with a bleed on the brain and with storms raging across the United Kingdom, his family could not be by his bedside initially. 

To their immense credit, Darlington's club physio Danny O'Connor remained with Paddy into the small hours of the morning, while manager Alun Armstrong phoned the family with half-hourly updates until they were able to make their way down from Newcastle the morning after the incident had occurred.

“That was my first start for Darlington as well and it was in the FA Trophy,” Paddy reflected exclusively to The Echo. “If you get to the final of that you get to play at Wembley so it wasn’t a small game by any stretch, it was a big game.

"I wasn’t actually sure what had happened but after about half an hour had gone by I sort of got the feeling that it had happened again.

“After the first one, I thought I’d had my fair share of bad luck and that would be it. But the second one hit me a bit more than the first one, as I knew what was going on a bit more as I had already been through it. It wasn’t a nice place to be.”

As it often does in times of need, the footballing community in the North East and beyond rallied around Paddy and the Almond family. In the days following the incident in Southend, the directors of Darlington Football Club Supporters Group set up a fundraiser to help with medical costs, with the consent of Paddy’s family.

The Go Fund Me page raised a whopping £13,652 - including £1,000 donations from Sunderland AFC and Maurice Louis-Dreyfus - alongside support from players Issac Hayden, David Stockdale and Ellis Taylor as well as from football fans up and down the United Kingdom.

“It was really unbelievable,” Paddy stated when asked about the support and financial aid from the world of football. “I didn’t expect anything near that. You can’t describe it.

“I didn’t really know too much about it until after two or three days in hospital and then my dad mentioned it. It was a massive shock. The more you look into it and see the people who have donated, you can’t thank them enough for the support, for everything, it was unbelievable.

“Sitting in hospital for three weeks is not a nice place to be but seeing all of the support coming in and the messages is what I needed to get through it. It really helped me.”

“It grew arms and legs,” Paddy’s father, Kevin Almond, who has been with his son through every step of the recovery process, explained. “You had Spennymoor supporters group putting in and Southend supporters group too, as well as many others.

“I think it touched a lot of people. When football works together, it is amazing what the community can do sometimes when it comes together. I know it can get a lot of stick football, but when it comes together it is brilliant."

Paddy has been constantly scanned by specialists since the second bleed occurred with every precaution understandably taken. You can, of course, see a cut healing and stitches working but it is very difficult to gauge how a brain is heeling without regular check-ups.

“I had my last scan about two weeks ago which showed that all of the blood has gone, which is what they were looking for,” Paddy explained. “That’s a good sign. It is just a waiting game to see if my brain will heal but we’re on the right track so far.”

Although medical professionals are happy with Paddy’s recovery, questions still remain over his ability to play football - similar to the situation surrounding Wolves forward Raul Jimenez before his eventual return.

Repeated head injuries can lead to increased risks of the serious conditions of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia, something the Almond family are keenly aware of.

“He knows he’ll probably never play professionally again,” admits Kevin. “I think that’s probably a distant dream just because of the risk.

“When he had his car crash, he was due to go to Queen of the South two days after, so that was kiboshed. Things looked to be getting back on track at Darlington, he would have had a good season but things weren’t to be. 

“I think where he is now, he’s considering his future, applying for full-time jobs and looking for different career paths. He has the option to play part-time if he wanted to, which is at the back of his mind. He is torn.”

“The way the hospital put it, it is in my own hands, the decision,” Paddy says about the possibility of stepping onto a football pitch again. “I have a lot to think about really. They’ve explained the risks to me and all of that, it is just whether I want to do it again and how long I think I should take off. It is a tough choice.

“I’m not 100 per cent on what I’ll do yet. It is still up in the air at the moment. I’m not in a rush to make the decision. What happened is in the back of my head all the time and I’m always thinking 'what if?' It is a hard situation.

“You are always questioning everything. What if something happens? It is a hard one to try and explain because I think about everyday circumstances too. What if something happens in everyday life or something falls on my head. It is a strange one,” Paddy concluded.