Clachnacuddin striker James Anderson has gone from not knowing if he’d be able to play football this season to notching seven goals by the end of August.
The 20-year-old has capped a whirlwind few months by signing a contract extension until 2024 with the Lilywhites.
Anderson’s impressive start to the campaign has been even more remarkable given he recovered from the rare but serious Guillain-Barre syndrome, which affects nerves in the body.
Clachnacuddin player Anderson was admitted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness with the condition on Easter Monday.
‘My balance had completely gone’
He said: “It was weird. I was playing football on the Sunday with my mates, just mucking about really.
“Then on the Monday morning I woke up and I could see two lights on my roof, I had double vision.
“I tried to stand up and I fell over, my balance had completely gone.
“I didn’t get any better so I went to A&E and straight away the doctor said: ‘I hope it’s not, but I think it’s Guillain-Barre syndrome.’
“They did tests and discovered it was Guillain-Barre and by the Wednesday I was lying in my hospital bed and couldn’t move at all.
“It was really scary, but on the Thursday they started my treatment and after a few days I was starting to see the benefits.
“After a week and a half in hospital, I was able to walk a wee bit with support and then they let me out on crutches.
“I was off work for five or six weeks and every day I was just trying to do a little bit more even if it was only walking an extra 20 yards.
“I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to play this season, because from what I’ve heard it can take a lot longer to recover.
“It’s been pretty crazy how quickly I’ve recovered really.
“The staff at Raigmore were superb and I didn’t have a clue what was happening – when I was lying there and couldn’t move, I was really worried.
“But they managed to sort me out really quickly and I can’t thank them enough.”
‘Given what’s happened for me it makes the start to the season’
Clachnacuddin forward Anderson revealed that his friends, Inverness Caley Thistle’s Roddy MacGregor and Harry Nicolson, helped get his fitness up following his release from hospital.
Given what he’s been through the player – who joined Clach four years ago – has been delighted to help the club take 11 points from their first seven Breedon Highland League fixtures.
Anderson added: “One of the first things I asked was would it affect my football.
“The doctors said at that stage it could be a couple of months or a couple of years to recover.
“It was really worrying, because I didn’t know what the outcome would be.
“When I got out of hospital I read up about it and I was reading stuff about people being able to walk again after two years.
“When I was able to go back to work, it coincided with the start of pre-season and I’d been doing a lot with my mates to try to get back to normal.
“I asked Roddy and Harry if I could be involved in whatever they were doing ahead of pre-season, because I felt miles off it.
“The first time I went to play with them I could walk fine, but when I started trying to turn I was still nearly falling over.
“They helped a lot and then come pre-season Jordan MacDonald has made sure we’re all fit.
“Given what’s happened for me, it makes the start to the season even better and hopefully we can keep it going.”