From brain bleed to professional football in three months: Martin Smith’s comeback of a lifetime

Martin Smith has enjoyed a long career that began at his boyhood club Sunderland. Since then, he has played up and down the football pyramid. However last summer the now South Shields man endured what would be by far the biggest challenge of his life and career. 

When South Shields player Martin Smith went into hospital for routine surgery last summer, he had no idea of the nightmare he was about to go through; a nightmare that would threaten his career and livelihood.  

Having struggled with groin pain throughout the 2023/24 season, Smith was diagnosed with a double hernia and was set for surgery on May 30, 2024.  

The midfielder said: “Surgery went well, I was going to be discharged that day to come home.” 

However, after a visit from a nurse at around seven o’clock, Smith’s world was turned upside down. 

“I’ve got absolutely no memory of what actually happened but basically what I think has happened is that I’ve had an fall in my room,” Smith said before adding: “I got found unresponsive on the floor and my airways weren’t working properly. 

“I got found unresponsive on the floor at around quarter past eight, so I don’t know how long I was on the floor for.”

Martin Smith celebrates with teammates (Credit: South Shields FC)

After regaining consciousness around half an hour after being found, Smith began being sick and complaining of nausea so he was rushed for a CT scan that showed a fracture to the back of his skull and two bleeds on the brain that would eventually grow to two and a half centimetres each. 

“If they get to three centimetres then they have to go in and basically you need surgery and they need to drain the bleeds out. I was on 24/7 monitoring to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. I spent the following eight days in the neurological ward at the James Cook hospital,” Smith said.  

Despite being discharged from hospital after eight days, the nightmare was far from over for Smith who is still suffering from the side effects from the accident now. 

“I was bed bound and that’s the brutal honest of it. I was in a bad way, I didn’t eat at all in the week I was in hospital, I was constantly being sick, feeling dizzy and my balance ws completely off. My taste and smell was completely gone, which they currently still are, I’ve not recovered that,” Smith said before adding: “The symptoms which I’m still living with now and whether that’ll be sort of permanent, I don’t know the answer to that.” 

Remarkably Smith returned to action within four months of the accident, coming on as a second-half substitute in a National League North fixture away at Chester in September, something even Smith himself didn’t believe would happen so quickly. 

Martin Smith in action on his return against Chester (Credit: South Shields FC)

“When everything happened, I think everyone just wrote the season off to be honest, which was to be expected. Then as the months went by when I was obviously in constant communication with my neurologist, and it’s still the case now like they said back then, look, this isn’t a quick fix,” Smith said. 

Despite his quick return to action Smith looks back on his return with both fondness and regret. 

“I’ve openly said this to people around me, I returned too soon. I returned around the four-month mark and that was just because I was so desperate to get back on the pitch, I just wanted to get back to normality. If we had this call around the Chester game I would have turned around and said 100 percent I would have said to you ‘I’m ready to come back.’ 

“I remember the feeling around that game leading into it was like, basically myself, my fiancé, Alex, and my family, we’ve come through hell for four months. It’s been hard and this is the reward now to get back and no one probably expected it to be that soon, but I just couldn’t wait to get back on the pitch and it was a great feeling going into it,” Smith said. 

Smith’s return to action wasn’t just emotional for him and his family, it was a big moment for everyone connected to South Shields. 

The club’s head of media, Sam Jones, said: “It was a great moment (Smith returning at Chester), with Martin being vice-captain he is an important part of the team so to have him back, especially not knowing how long he was going to be out for, was great.” 

Despite the severity of his injury, Smith has not let it get in the way of his desire to prolong his playing career at South Shields and beyond. 

Martin Smith celebrates with teammate Paul Blackett after a goal (Credit: South Shields FC)

He said: “I love what I do, I’ve always loved what I do. I’ve been fortunate to do what I love and have that as a job,” Smith said before adding: “I’ve got to also balance what has happened as well and be conscious of what has happened and take note of that. I’ll be honest obviously what’s happened has been so traumatic, but it’s not sort of veered us away from me wanting to play, I don’t have any fear of any contact.  

“I don’t have any fear of heading the ball and I think that’s linked with, I’ve got no memory or recollection of a fall or of a bad collision.  

“I still love football just as much, and I love playing just as much. So it’s a case of just, you know, being the best I can, perform consistently and keep going.”