Santi Cazorla almost lost his foot to gangrene but Arsenal star remains hopeful of January return

Santi Cazorla
Pablo Garcia/MARCA
James Olley3 November 2017

Santi Cazorla has revealed the full extent of the injury nightmare that has threatened to wreck his career by claiming he almost had his foot amputated - but insisted he remains hopeful of returning to action in January.

The Arsenal midfielder’s last appearance for the club came in October 2016, since when he has undergone eight operations in a year as he fights to play competitive football again. He has been living away from his family in a hotel in Salamanca, near the clinic of Spain national team physiotherapist Juan Carlos Herraez, since July

In a frank interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Cazorla discussed problems dating back much further to September 2013 when he suffered a crack in the ankle his right leg during Spain’s friendly against Chile.

Believing it to be a minor problem, the midfielder played on in pain until requiring knee surgery in December 2015.

Photo: Pablo Garcia/MARCA
Pablo Garcia/MARCA

After recovering to start Arsenal’s final Premier League game of the 2015-16 season, Cazorla played on with cortisone injections but after undergoing another operation, this time on a tendon in his foot, the wound kept opening up to the extent he was forced into eight surgeries inside 12 months, during which time he has lost considerable muscle mass in his calf.

“I was still playing then and they said it was okay,” said Cazorla. “The problem was that the skin didn’t heal and the wounds kept on opening and getting infected.

"They would give me stitches and I’d rest for two weeks or so and then they’d remove the stitches and I’d begin to cycle and the stitches would open and there’d be liquid. I’d go to see the surgeon again there and he’d say I had to have another operation.

“I had several operations. I was in hospital several times for 10 days and had to have antibiotics through a drip for the bacteria because I had two and needed special antibiotics. They had to study what type of bacteria it was.”

After finding no answers in England - Cazorla described the advice he received as “no solution, only pain, a limp, and the worst predictions” in addition to “if you manage to walk with your son around the garden, be satisfied” - he went to see Dr Mikel Sanchez in Victoria, the capital of Spain’s Basque region.

“He saw I had a really bad infection, that I had damaged part of the calcaneus and that my Achilles tendon was eaten away and eight centimetres were missing,” explained Cazorla.

Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

It is claimed that three aggressive strains of bacteria were discovered after the wound had become infected during a previous surgery. Discussing the gangrene-affected heel, Cazorla said: “I was still playing then and they said it was okay.

“The problem was that the skin didn’t heal and the wounds kept on opening and getting infected. Look, in this photo you can see right through to the tendon.”

​Cazorla was given several courses of antibiotics and if the problem had not been detected earlier, Marca claims he would have lost his leg “at the very least”.

Cazorla underwent a reconstruction if his tendon on May 29 and has had a skin graft taken from his left forearm where he had the name of his daughter India tattooed on his arm. Only half the tattoo remains with the rest overtaken by a scar.

“I don’t know how to fix my arm tattoo now but maybe I’ll leave it like that because it’s got more meaning now than ever,” Cazorla said.

He is now in rehabilitation which is said to be progressing well. “I’m not registered to play until January but I am going to return by then,” said Cazorla. “My family are still in London because my children began school there. Being here alone without them is the hardest thing.”

​Cazorla is, however, now running again as part of a daily recovery programme which includes swimming, an hour of pilates and cycling. He has received almost daily messages from fellow Spanish internationals Andres Iniesta, David Silva and David Villa.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has always insisted Cazorla would make a comeback early in the New Year but Marca claims doctors have not set a specific timescale for his return.

Despite enduring such horrific circumstances, Cazorla insisted he is not angry and has not required counselling during his lengthy absence.

“It feels like I’m getting everything off my chest by talking about what I’ve been through,” he said. “It’s not been a simple injury as people thought. Nobody believed in me but I did and I still do, although I’m cautious because of the pain.”

Marca also claim that Cazorla stated in his personal WhatsApp account: “I won’t give those who don’t want me to play again that pleasure. I WILL RETURN.”

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