Yesterday’s 3-1 win over Manchester City at home was a glorious moment for Liverpool FC and their supporters. The victory put them firmly in the driver’s seat, with both hands clasping the wheel, in the Premier League title race. For injured Liverpool supporter Sean Cox though, the day was about so much more than just football or sport.
Cox, who was brutally attacked by AS Roma ultras while in Rome for a 2018 UEFA Champions League semifinal match, was back at Anfield for the first time since the vicious assault. It took 18 months of treatment and then 12 weeks for Sean Cox to make it back to this point.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/1193590696307023873
“It’s great to have him back but at the same time it is bittersweet,” his wife Martina said in an interview with Off the Ball prior to the match.
“Sean is coming back in a different capacity; he’s in a wheelchair. He’s got lifelong injuries. But look, it’s a good day and we are really going to enjoy it and I think it will be a great boost for Sean.”
She also gave an update on his health status.
“He’s doing well. He’s in a rehab facility in Sheffield. He’s has been there since September. He is starting to make progress and they are happy with him.”
“There are a lot of different therapies that is getting here which he didn’t necessarily get at home, which is really good. He’s making progress, he’s in the hydro pool and, with the help of two therapy assistants, he’s walking.
“He does need a lot of assistance to walk but I think with time and a lot more intensive rehab, he will improve and that’s a good thing.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had a special message to the lifelong supporter in the match day program.
“Sean’s story has touched all of us, and although initially the emotions were one of sadness that his life has been so affected purely by coming to support the football team he loves, we now have new feelings when we hear his name mentioned,” wrote Klopp.
Jurgen Klopp makes promise to Sean Cox after his Anfield returnhttps://t.co/I5QhdsuAnN
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) November 11, 2019
As you can see above, Sean Cox also had the chance to meet Klopp after the game.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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