Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva has expressed his gratitude to physio Gary Lewin for saving his foot.
Eduardo suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle after Birmingham defender Martin Taylor caught the Croatian forward with a mistimed challenge in the 2-2 draw with the Blues at St Andrews last weekend.
Taylor was shown a straight red card for the foul and has been heavily criticised for the challenge which has left Eduardo facing nine months on the sidelines.
Eduardo, though, admits his injury could have been far worse and the 25-year-old has thanked Gunners physio Lewin for his swift action.
Grateful
"The injury was so grave I could have lost my foot," he told the News of the World.
"So I will always be grateful to Gary for what he did in lowering the risk to my leg. That was decisive. I do not remember too much about the blow.
"I remember the pain, seeing that my foot had rotated, but I only recaptured my senses in hospital."
Eduardo, though, accepts Taylor's challenge did not contain any intent after the Birmingham player visited him in hospital.
Excuses
"I had to look at him (Taylor)," Eduardo continued. "I could not understand how anyone could make a tackle like that in only the third minute of a game.
"But in the end I believed that Taylor was sincere and I accepted his excuses.
"Even though he had destroyed my season it would be incredible to think that what he did was pre-meditated."
And Eduardo insists he will never watch a replay of the challenge because he wishes to put the incident behind him.
"I'm not interested," Eduardo added. "I've made this decision along with my wife. I want to try and forget what happened."
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