Gazza :(

[L-man]

Seems he's taken a turn for the worst. Horrible to see but not surprising at all. Here's tomorrows Mirror and below a story I read earlier

http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/17pwna/paul_gascoigne_an_update/

Unfortunately this is a very sad but very true account of a dinner I attended last night with Paul. It was a fundraising event for Northampton Town and a breast cancer charity and friends of mine had a table. I decided to drive down from Aberdeen yesterday and tie it in with the weekend in Newcastle I have planned for the game on Saturday. After what I saw last night, I really wish I hadn't.

There was about 500 in attendance at the dinner and worryingly, minutes after everyone took our seats the compare for the evening introduced himself and announced the plan for the evening, dinner, raffle, auction, Gazza speaking followed by a Q&A and then the comedian.
We began eating and between the starter and main the compare took to the stage again and told us that unfortunately Gazza was very ill. He had taken a funny turn which isn't uncommon due to the medication he takes and he should really be in hospital, not speaking at a dinner but he has insisted on appearing as its a charity event and be will go to hospital immediately afterwards. He asked us all to be understanding towards Gazza and be patient when he appears.

Following the main course it was announced that Gazza was extremely ill so he would be coming out now and speaking so be could get to hospital as soon as her finished and we would get desert once he'd finished.

Gazza's agent then took to the stage and told us Gazza had had 2 pints earlier and taken a funny turn so he would answer a few questions then go straight to hospital. He reiterated Gazza had only had 2 pints and what we were about was not what it looked like so please be patient and remember Gazza for the good times he gave us, not for how he looks today. (It was like a funeral speech to be honest before he'd even come out)

Gazza was then aided onto stage by 2 bouncers. When I say aided, there was no way at all he could walk unaided. He was sat on a sofa on the stage and given a microphone. His agent asked him who the best player he's ever played with was and Gazza said 'Brian Robson. But he's a ****. They're all ****s. You're all ****s.'

His agent apologized to everyone and then Gazza apologized as well. He said as be started crying 'I'm sorry, 3 days on the whiskey, I'm sorry.'

He was shaking uncontrollably for the 5 minutes he was on the stage. It was like a very serious case of Parkinson's. He broke down 3 times in the 5 minutes or so he was on stage apologizing and saying this time he'll get better. Between apologies he struggled to answer questions and just told us that other people were ****s.

It was horrible seeing my hero who I drove for 7 hours yesterday to see in that condition. There was a lump in everyone's throat when he left the stage. The room really did have the atmosphere of a funeral and the consensus was certainly that he does not have long left.

 

[NEVILLEB]

Tragic.

I know a guy near where I live with the same symptoms. Shaking, irrational outbursts, etc.

It turned out he had a problem with the C1 (top) joint in his neck. Made him appear insane. They stuck him on valium and sent him off to psychiatrists.

I have a sneaky feeling that all the injuries and bangs Gazza has had to his body that he too has a problem with his spine. Hence the Valium. Sure, there are lots of other issues too but this can be enough to make you go crazy. The booze and drugs become mood alterers because you constantly feel depressed/crazy

 

[Adam456]

I suspect 3 days drinking whisky might be the cause.

Very sad. My favourite player of all time. A very decent bloke whose demons are getting the better of him

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Breaks my heart to read this. Regardless of what happened in his later years, this **** was the reason I loved football.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I still remember, as an 11 year old boy, when he smashed that free kick in against Arsenal in the 91 Semi.

He was a God to me.

Amazing that with all that medical support, money, friends, etc...no one could help him

 

[Mr Pink]

I still remember, as an 11 year old boy, when he smashed that free kick in against Arsenal in the 91 Semi.

He was a God to me.

Amazing that with all that medical support, money, friends, etc...no one could help him

Me to I was 12 then.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the only person who can really help...is yourself. You can bring a horse to water...but you can't make it drink (pun definitely not intended)

Really feel for him.

 

[NEVILLEB]

True Mr Pink

You can't change anyone else. Even changing yourself is a very difficult thing.

He's a strong bugger. He's got some many illnesses and yet he's still fighting.

 

[TheGreenLily]

Sad, very sad.

What is worse, I can see more footballers ending up like this, too much money and not much to do once there careers have ended.

Although, clubs now are taking this is sort of thing seriously (I hope) and educating the players to deal with this sort of thing.

 

[ItsBoris]

Unfortunately this happens to a lot of people and for the most part society just stands by and watches. I've never understood why we don't take greater measures to rehabilitate people. People shouldn't be allowed to just destroy themselves.

 

[NEVILLEB]

Unfortunately this happens to a lot of people and for the most part society just stands by and watches. I've never understood why we don't take greater measures to rehabilitate people. People shouldn't be allowed to just destroy themselves.

Agreed.

Often, there's an undiagnosed illness involved. Mental or physical.

 

[we_all_loved_freund]

This was reported in The Sun a few days ago; very sad :-(

 

[lillywhites61]

Paul Gascoigne was probably the finest player I ever saw in a spurs shirt. He was an absolute magician.

I feel terrible to think he is in that state again, you sort of have that sinking feeling every time you see him like that.

Unfortunately he probably will be on the front pages of the papers sooner rather than later and I for one will be devastated as one of my biggest hero's leaves us.

 

[Bobbins]

I still remember, as an 11 year old boy, when he smashed that free kick in against Arsenal in the 91 Semi.

He was a God to me.

Amazing that with all that medical support, money, friends, etc...no one could help him

Same here, I was ten, and I remember that day like it was yesterday. So sad. In a terrible way I'd rather he went soon rather than prolonged his agony.

 

[steve]

I was there that day...magical football from a magician footballer...think VDV & Modric with a bit of Dembele thrown in...that was Gascoigne...could score goals, dribble past people like they weren't there, put in on a sixpence over 50 yards, and score his fair share...he wasn't consistent but he was top top drawer...

His old mate Waddle in his last season was simply astonishing....he won game after game single handidly. I remember West Ham away in 88/89 - the 2 of them combined in a way I've never seen since and Gazza went off at HT injured and STILL won MOTM so good was his performance...

 

[tototoner]

Thought he was getting better a few months back, shame he has lapsed

 

[gilzeantheking]

So sad, I got to know him a bit in the 90's when our sons were at the same school. He was funny and outgoing and loved to talk about football. There was something extremely vulnerable about him though and although his drinking wasn't really publicised then I did wonder if he had a problem. (I had an aunt who was an alcoholic and he strangely reminded me of her)

As others have said he was a real magician and I feel privileged to have seen him play. He always played with a smile on his face. I did ask him about this, he told me that it didn't matter if he was playing at Wembley or in the park he just loved to play.

 

[ryantegan]

Truly heartbreaking

If he could muster the strength to be well with the echoes of all of us as youngsters screaming his name in the playground, then he'd be fit and well.


I love you gazza

 

[bigpalacios]

Love this guy, I was born a raised in Manchester but he is the reason I support spurs.

Very sad.

 

[Shadydan]

Absolute hero for me, he's is the reason I support Spurs so its hard to take in what's happening to him now.

 

[MyNameIsNicolaBerti]

Some video of the incident here....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4776338/Tragic-Paul-Gascoigne-on-video.html

He's clearly in full blown withdrawal in the video and I wouldn't mind betting he's had more than just a few beers over a few days.

I've known some alcoholics. It's not a pretty sight watching them go through the denial, the unhappiness, the breakups and the destruction of their careers. The day literally revolves around booze. For some people who aren't familiar with it this notion somes unreal, that someone would concentrate so mch of their life on the drink. But that's addiction for you.

I've probably drunk too much myself during bad times. I can certainly understand the temptation, especially to try and drown problems. My drinking certainly upped itself when I went through a rough few years. Unfortunately, when you are depressed it just gets amplified it when the initial buzz wears off. I suspect this is the rut that Gazza is in. He is unhappy with life as a single man and without football (he's even said as much), and this is made worse during his binges because the alcohol has a negative effect on his mental health. Add this to the damage he probably now has physically and it's likely that days of soberiety are miserable, even when he manages them for any extended period. Even when he's sober he seems is a bad state these days physically. I don't know if anyone saw the Piers Morgan interview a year or so ago, but he speech was very slurred and croacky. Very much a sign of being a "dry drunk" even when not on the sauce.

I'm worried that he has reached the point of no return and will turn up dead sooner or later. He's probably in a worse situation than the likes of Oliver Reed or George Best were. The fact that he fights so hard and then spirals down again, means that each time he tries to beat his addictions the struggle is even harder. I am worried that one day he'll wake up, say to himself "fuck this" and decide to drink himself into the grave.