Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has revealed he came close to losing his right leg after it was seriously broken in September 2015 and admitted he considered quitting football altogether.
Shaw has started four consecutive Premier League matches for United this season - something he had not achieved since his horrific leg-break suffered playing PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League three years ago.
Shaw: Mourinho right to criticise me
Since his rehabilitation, Shaw has struggled for first-team football under Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford, often facing public criticism from the United manager.
When asked about his recovery, Shaw said: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't sometimes think about stopping playing football, but I had a lot of good friends and family around me and they helped me through it.
"I nearly lost my leg, I was actually really close to losing my leg and I never knew that until six months after when the doctor told me. Of course, if I knew that I would [still] never have stopped, even if he had told me there was a worry, I would have tried [to carry on playing football].
"I want to be playing football, I want to be playing in the biggest games possible, winning trophies - that's my motivation, and like I said I want to be known as one of the best full-backs in the world."
On being told he could have nearly lost his leg, Shaw explained: "At the time, they were thinking about flying me back (from Eindhoven) and if I'd have flown back, I would probably have lost my leg because of the blood clots and stuff in the leg.
"I've got - I don't want to talk about it too much - two scars down the side of my leg where they had to cut it open and pull them out because of how severe it was.
"But I don't really care about that anymore. I feel really strong - and my right leg is exactly as it was before my leg break."
Following his return to form and United's starting XI, Shaw has earned a recall to the England squad from Gareth Southgate, displacing his team-mate Ashley Young who was a mainstay during the World Cup.
Speaking last week at his squad announcement, Southgate said Shaw had taken longer than most to gauge the effort and dedication needed to be a professional footballer at the highest level.
"Yeah, you could say that is fair," added Shaw, when asked about Southgate's comments. "In periods of time when things were going really good, that's when I might have taken my foot off the pedal and got comfortable.
"Maybe at times I wasn't carrying on to the next level and that's where I've changed from a kid to a man and I have realised that. Now I'm back in the England squad, I have to keep going and take that criticism on board."