Bradford boxer Nadeem Siddique today revealed his fear after being knocked out by a potentially fatal bug.
Siddique spent a week in hospital after being struck down by viral meningitis.
And the unbeaten lightweight prospect admitted: "I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk. At one stage I thought I was a goner.
"It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, especially because they didn't know what was wrong. At first they thought I had popped a blood vessel in my brain but nobody realised exactly what the problem was.
"I didn't eat for two or three days and I just wanted to sleep all the time. It wasn't until about the fifth day that they diagnosed that I had this strain of viral meningitis."
The 23-year-old has become a major hit with the city's boxing public since turning pro. Siddique, who trains along with Junior Witter at the Sheffield-based Ingle gym, has won all four of his fights in front of sell-out crowds in Bradford.
Now manager John Ingle plans to rest him until September to allow Siddique to rebuild his fitness levels.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article