Gideon Baah’s dream of returning to club football in the quickest possible time was dealt a hefty blow when physiotherapists at the Heriott-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he is currently undergoing recovery from fractures to the tibia and fibula in his left leg, revealed the actual extent of his injury.
The recovery exercise began in earnest last week but the stalwart left back got the shock of his life when head physiotherapist of Hearts of Midlothian, Rob Marshall, who has been tasked with oversight responsibility of the former Sporting Mirren defender told him that tests conducted reveal he has suffered weakened muscles; due to physical inactivity during the 4-week initial recovery period in Ghana.
In an exclusive interview with Kessben Fm’s sports desk from Scotland, Gideon who was injured in a league fixture between Kotoko and Hearts at the Baba Yara Stadium revealed: “Mr. Marshall has placed me in intensive care which means that instead of three times of physiotherapy in a week, I would be doing five times.”
Shedding more light on the new development, 19-year-old Baah revealed: “I should have done more physical work during the period I used crutches in Ghana.
“On a scale of 1-10, I’m on the third mark, which means my fitness is way below that of a player who has already had substantial time to recover, necessitating the new measures by the physiotherapist.”
Mr Marshall, a medic who hails from New Zealand, sympathized with the defender, acknowledging the fact that Ghana lacks the facilities needed to help professional footballers recover completely from such career-threatening injuries.
That notwithstanding, Gideon had a word of praise for the doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi and Asante Kotoko’s medical team for the preliminary treatment and recovery programme saying, “I really appreciate what they did for me though, especially with the swimming regimen at Miklin Hotel.
“The medics over here could have found my muscles in a worse state and I’m thankful for that.”
Gideon made international headlines when after a training stint with Chelsea FC in England, Ghana’s Michael Essien recommended him to the club. The brief period he spent training at Cobham was part of a winning package for seeing off 32,000 competitors to win a televised football competition dubbed MTN Soccer Academy in 2007 and he has not looked back since.
The former national U-20 defender also spared a thought for his club Asante Kotoko, who co-sponsored the trip with his agent, Nigerian-born British Eby Emenike, CEO of TBD Management Limited in Huddersfield, UK. Kotoko’s dwindling fortunes in the Glo premier league are so remarkable that fans of the club have resolved not to throng the Baba Yara sports stadium anymore despite many calls by management for their support.
“The fans are justified in their anger at us but they should also understand that without them, there’s no Kotoko.
“They shouldn’t wait till we start winning before they realize they are an integral part of us,” he pleaded.
