Joshua Nair
A footballer's career has been thrown into doubt after a horror injury sustained during the opening minutes of a game.
Tom Carlse stepped onto the pitch for his semi-professional football team in an FA Vase cup tie on 1 February, a competition between teams in level five and six of the English football pyramid, with a final at Wembley up for grabs.
The dad suited up for VCD Athletic F.C. in the fifth round of the competition against Hartpury University F.C., just three wins away from the coveted final.
But soon after the game kicked off, the 30-year-old was involved in a 'heavy collision' and was elbowed in the throat during a tackle.
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Teammates and physios were worried for his health, and after realising that he was struggling to breathe, they called an ambulance to get him to hospital.
Doctors found that Tom had numerous fractures in his larynx and fitted a breathing tube before putting him into an induced coma that lasted five-and-a-half days to 'ultimately save his life'.
One of the footballer's friends, Thomas Phipp, said that he has just started speaking again but is still unable to eat or drink in hospital, with no recovery date in sight.
Tom, from Dartford, Kent, has been playing at a semi-professional level for over 10 years, though he had just joined VCD Athletic - who the game lost 1-0 - just weeks before the injury.
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Surgeons placed Tom's breathing tube in on 7 February and moved him into intensive care, and while he has been awake for over two weeks, he is still in the hospital.
Thomas went on to explain how the injury unfolded, saying: "It involved an elbow making contact with Tom's throat and immediately there were warning signs that he knew things weren't right.
"He was struggling to breathe so physios were immediately called on to treat him and an ambulance was called."
Recalling the moment, he said that his mate, who's 'always a bit of the life and soul in the changing room', was set on Wembley but football became 'less important' after the collision.
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"I had the pleasure of playing a good few years with him and he's definitely a character you want around you. He's got a massive passion for all sports," Thomas explained.
Describing the moment that Tom woke up as 'a massive relief', Thomas still doesn't know how quickly he'll get back to normal.
"He can't eat or drink but the biggest thing is to get the muscles in his throat functioning as strongly as possible," he added.
Thomas went on: "There's no playbook for [his recovery] so he has to roll with the punches a bit."
"He will get back to himself or his new self, whenever that might happen, but the difficulty is [his kids] don't know what they're dealing with.
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"The toughest part now is him being able to see them again, which was amazing but it was probably a bit of a shock for them to see him."
A GoFundMe page has been set up in his support, surpassing the target of £5,000 and hitting £12,200 so far, but Thomas hopes that more is to come.
"The GoFundMe was set up to allow him the time he needs to recover as appropriately as possible rather than just thinking he's got to get back to work, pay the bills and support the family," he explained.
Despite details about his recovery being 'unknown', Thomas said that they are learning more of Tom's condition every day.
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You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
VCD Athletic FC said in a statement to LADbible: "Tom's injury and the severity of it was very emotional for everyone involved with VCD, within 24 hours we knew this was very serious, Tom has not been with us long but is well liked by us all and we were all upset, he has a young family and this was a near death experience for him.
"Progress has been slow; consultants at Guys Hospital London are having to let nature takes its cause and keep him heavily sedated whilst recovering.
"There has been some definite progress, he cannot eat solid food as yet and still continues to recover in Guys Hospital, although everyone is hoping Tom will be home very soon.
"VCD will continue to support Tom and his family through his recovery, a go funds me page set up on his behalf has given Tom’s family a tremendous financial boost and that is great news to hear.
"I cannot say what Toms future in non-league football will be, he is taking small steps towards his recovery goal and that and getting back to his family is his priority in life at the moment."
LADbible has contacted Hartpury University F.C. for comment.