Mason: Cech was fantastic during my recovery from a head injury

Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has revealed that he can’t speak highly enough of Petr Cech, who helped him through his recovery from a fractured skull this year.

Mason has described Cech as a ‘proper man and gentleman’ following the goalkeeper’s involvement in his recovery this year.

The Hull midfielder suffered a fractured skull after colliding with Gary Cahill in January this year and Cech has apparently been at his side through the entire journey.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Petr Cech. He’s set the standards of what it is to be a proper man and a gentleman,” Mason told Jim White for talkSPORT.

“Straightaway [after the incident] he contacted my family and my fiancée and reassured us that what we were going through was normal and to be expected, with not being able to talk and struggling with light and everything like that.

“As soon as I got a bit more strength I was keen to see him because he said, ‘as soon as you’re ready, I’d like to come round and speak to you’.

“I think it was after about eight or nine weeks he came round. I was a bit worried at first because I hadn’t really spoken to anyone for longer than ten minutes. He walked through the door, sat on my sofa and said, ‘just sit back, don’t say anything, just listen’ and he spoke for about an hour and a half.

“I didn’t say anything, he just spoke and it was brilliant because when he left my partner said, ‘wow, the things we were a little bit worried about…’ It just reassured us that everything we were going through was part of the process of recovery.

“We’ve been in touch ever since. He’s been round to the house again and we speak on the phone regularly. He’s been fantastic.”

Mason is yet to return to playing after the head injury, which saw the 26-year-old undergo emergency brain surgery that left him with 14 metal plates in his head.

Cech suffered a similar injury in October 2006. The goalkeeper played for Chelsea at the time and collided with Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt’s right knee.

petr cech 2006
READING, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 14: Petr Cech of Chelsea receives treatment during the Barclays Premiership match between Reading and Chelsea at the Madejski Stadium on October 14, 2006. (Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images)

The former Czech Republic international was sidelined for three months and when he returned, he had to wear a protective head guard, which he still sports to this day.

Mason plans to do the same when he returns to playing. Although, that could still be a long way away.

In May, the Englishman revealed that he’s still struggling with loud noises following the injury.

I’m glad that Mason had Cech there to reassure him and his family during such a tough time in their lives. It sounds as if the 35-year-old was genuinely a massive help.