Ex-Sunderland and Portsmouth man suffers frightening brain injury as EFL club issues major health update
Fleetwood boss Pete Wild explains how an “innocuous” training collision left Denver Hume with a worrying brain bleed
Former Sunderland and Portsmouth defender Denver Hume is continuing his recovery after suffering a bleed on the brain during what Fleetwood Town describe as an apparently routine training incident.
The 27-year-old sustained the injury last month, leaving staff and teammates stunned by the seriousness of what had initially looked like a harmless collision. Fleetwood boss Pete Wild said the situation had been difficult for everyone to process.
“He's been having a battery of testing now for four or five weeks, and luckily the good news is that it will heal and he is on the mend,” Wild told BBC Radio Lancashire. “He's still got a lot to process mentally from the incident. It's certainly knocked him and us for six because it was so innocuous.”
Hume has now been given the green light to begin very gentle physical activity as he continues his rehabilitation. “He's been cleared to do some light – very light – exercises and hopefully start a return to more physical life,” Wild said. “That'll take some time, and he's got another follow-up in January, where we'll start to see some more information for where that takes him.”
Hume, who came through the academy at Sunderland before spells at Portsmouth and Grimsby Town, joined Fleetwood on a two-year contract in the summer and made 11 appearances before the incident. Wild has not ruled out the possibility of Hume returning before the end of the season, but stressed that the defender’s well-being comes first.
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“There's a possibility he plays before the end of the season, but I can't say whether he will or he won't because having sustained this injury, it will be down to how he reacts to coming back to physical fitness and how he reacts mentally to coming back to contact football,” he said. “We've got fantastic medical staff here who will support him through this process. We're going to have to take it step by step.”
The Fleetwood manager also explained how the collision occurred during training. “He's watching the ball and he spins his head and made full contact with someone's knee and he hit the deck straight away,” he said. “When the extent of it came out over the next 24–48 hours... It makes you think about what's really important in life.”
Wild added that he had been in touch with Hume this week and said the defender is remaining positive during his recovery. “He's in good spirits and he's trying to get back to a bit of normality, which is pleasing,” he said.
Born in Ashington, Hume joined Sunderland's academy at the age of 10, and made his debut for Sunderland in the final match of the 2017–18 season as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship.