Jose Enrique opens up about his recovery from a rare form of brain tumour

Former Newcastle and Liverpool defender Jose Enrique has spoken about his terrifying battle and recovery from a rare form of brain tumour.

The Spaniard revealed his diagnosis last month and also that he had quickly undergone surgery to have the tumour near the nerves of his left eye removed.

Speaking to Liverpool's official website about his ordeal on Thursday, Enrique, who now works as a football agent, explained the frightening symptoms that led to him visiting neurosurgery specialists at London's St George's Hospital and first became apparent during a dinner with Brighton manager Chris Hughton.

Describing the effect on his eyesight, the 32-year-old said he began to see blurry before experiencing double vision.

'I couldn’t walk properly because I couldn’t see and I started to get a little bit scared because of it,' he said.

It was explained to Enrique that the tumour was incredibly rare - 'more or less one person in a million' - and thankfully non-cancerous but still dangerous due to its proximity to the main arteries and veins.

He underwent a seven-hour operation through the nose and was told by a doctor that 'I cannot promise you that you’re going to see like you used to see’.

Thankfully the surgery went well, though the subsequent recovery has been gruelling and Enrique detailed the difficulty he has had performing simple everyday tasks.

'It was scary and after I had the operation done it was a very, very bad time in the hospital, [as] my partner knows and my family,' he said. 'It’s been a very, very difficult time since.

'I was in the hospital for a week and it looks like very little [time] but in that week it was a nightmare because you realise a little bit how many people are ill in that moment.

'It changes your life a bit, the way you think. After a week they sent me home but still with a lot of [issues]; I can’t go downstairs by myself, when I go to the toilet I can’t lift the lid, when I clean my teeth… It’s silly things that in a normal life you do and you don’t realise how easy it is to do it until you can’t.

'I couldn’t walk, if I do 10 or 15 minutes – it’s a little bit more than that now - it was like I had played two games in a row! It was crazy, really, really tiring.'

Enrique, who has received plenty of support from Liverpool fans, current players and former team-mates, is now on the mend, but it is a gradual process he is understandably taking day by day with more than 30 radiotherapy sessions still ahead.

'I’m feeling OK, it depends on the day,' he said. 'Sometimes, because here the weather is nice for holidays but it’s not the best for what I have because I cannot do too much, it’s a little bit annoying but I’m just getting better day by day.'

Enrique made 99 appearances for Liverpool over a five-year spell after joining in a £6million deal from Newcastle in 2011 and also played club football for Levante, Valencia, Celta Vigo, Villarreal and Real Zaragoza in addition to representing Spain at youth level.

He announced his retirement from professional football at 31 in September 2017 after suffering from a long-term knee injury that blighted the final years of his career.