Former footballer Paul Gascoigne hospitalised after binge drinking spree

Paul Gascoigne has been admitted to hospital following an apparent drinking binge.
The England legend, who made 57 appearances for his country, was found slumped outside his penthouse apartment in Poole, Dorset, in England, clutching a bottle of gin.
He is reportedly in the process of being evicted from the £3million rented home, because neighbours had recently complained about noise levels.
According to the Daily Mirror, Gascoigne was taken away from the home to Poole Hosptial after paramedics and police were called earlier on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for South West Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics were called to attend to a patient in the Sandbanks area on Wednesday afternoon.
A friend told the Daily Mirror: ‘It is very sad. But the reality is Paul has been drinking for the past few weeks and once that happens things will only end one way.
‘Today things came to a head. He has had a lot on his plate as he is in the process of trying to find somewhere to live.
‘His landlord had given him 10 days to get out of the flat and it was weighing on his mind. Obviously things became too much for him in the past couple of days and he has turned back to the bottle.’
He was recently seen in public at a WH Smith store, where fans said he appeared ‘unsteady on his feet’.
A spokesman for Gascoigne declined to comment on the incident outside his home.
In a TV documentary shown last September, the star described the pain of fearing he might start drinking again, despite knowing it could kill him.
The ITV show Being Paul Gascoigne revealed he was addicted to sweets and spent £1,000 a year on anti-wrinkle jabs to counteract the ravages of drinking.
The star of the Italia 90 World Cup, whose teams included Newcastle United, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Everton and Middlesbrough, spoke about overhearing doctors say he might die when he was being treated in the US.
Friends from sport and showbusiness clubbed together last year to pay for his treatment.
He said: ‘I just remember one bit after the third day of being in hospital when he (the doctor) said “I don’t think this guy is going to make it” and I sort of put my head up a little bit and I was like, tubes in my arms and an oxygen tank injecting round my heart and lungs and that.
‘I just come forward and I went “I don’t want to die, I need to water the plants” and that was it and then I woke up two weeks later.’
He added: ‘With me now, if I did have a drink and relapse, it’s like becoming tipsy and merry is OK for a couple of days but like the next mouthful I’m so down, I’m so depressed, I cry. I do all that because I know inside I’m hurting myself again. I know where I’m heading – a wooden box. Or I’m back in treatment or hospital. Or getting sectioned.’
Gascoigne said he had been ‘lucky twice’ after almost dying from drink, saying: ‘I hope I don’t die through it. Because I won’t get any sympathy… because, well, “he was warned”. At least I know if I did pass away through it I wouldn’t be in this pain all the time.
‘The pain’s like, I know probably in the future I am going to drink again. I know in a year’s time I am going to have f****** hassle again and, you know, family worrying and Sheryl (his ex-wife) worried, the kids worried, nephews worried, friends are worried.
‘I just think sometimes, just think f****** hell. Just go away i.e. drink or me go away – and that means a wooden box and six nails… and I don’t know why, I just don’t know why I f****** pick up the drink.’
Gascoigne is considered to be one of England’s most talented players. His outrageous sense of humour during his playing days brought him love from fellow players and from the terraces, even if it led managers to despair about the scrapes he got into.
His mentor Sir Bobby Robson famously dubbed him ‘daft as a brush’.
Just hours before his latest health scare, it emerged that Gascoigne, born in Dunston, Gateshead, was to make a return to football playing for a Sunday League side.
Now living in Bournemouth, where he has been treated for alcoholism, he was recruited to sign up for Abbey FC in the Hayward Sunday League Division Four by taxi driver and manager Chris Foster.
 Credit: Daily Mail