WHEN a footballer gets carried from the field on a stretcher there's usually an initial wave of sympathy, then the game carries on.

Sean Seavill knows that better than most.

The 23-year-old Cinderford Town striker was rushed to Poole Hospital after suffering a badly broken leg during a Southern League match at Wimborne Town early in September.

He needed immediate surgery, but things were about to get much worse.

Still 'out of it' from the various painkillers he had been given, he fell out of his hospital bed and broke his newly-pinned right leg all over again.

He told The Forester: "At the time I didn't know who I was or where I was.

"I had to have three operations in five days and I've got another one coming up on December 23.

"I've still got the pins in my leg and I'm getting around on crutches.

"The worst thing was being bed bound for six or seven weeks.

"After the next op I'll be in a cast for at least a month."

Injuries such as this don't just stop you playing football, they put your life on hold.

Sean has had to suspend his studies at Hartpury College for a year and learn to be patient.

He's no stranger to injury, either. When he was 19 he cracked two vertebrae in his neck and was laid up for three months.

He returned, only to suffer a severe cruciate ligament knee injury that put him out of the game for eight months.

Speaking of the tackle that recently broke the tibia and fibula bones in his leg, he said: "It was pretty late and came out of nowhere, but I don't blame the guy who did it.

"He came to see me in hospital and seemed quite upset, but I told him it could easily have been the other way around.

"What's annoying is I was doing well and really enjoying my football."

Sean has been back to The Causeway a couple of times to see his team-mates but says he doesn't like watching football because it shows him what he is missing.

He said: "I've got to take things cautiously but I definitely want to play football again. I love the game too much to quit."