Feb 11, 2008, 13:35 GMT
Britain's Zara Phillips' boyfriend Mike Tindall feels lucky to be alive after suffering a torn liver and punctured lung.
The 29-year-old rugby ace - who was released from London's Hammersmith Hospital on Friday (08.02.08) - spent four days in intensive care after he was injured during England's match against Wales last Saturday (02.02.08).
He said: "I don't feel sorry for myself. Far from it. I feel incredibly lucky.
"The biggest concern was my internal bleeding. I lost two pints of blood into my membrane. Luckily it clotted and stemmed the flow. If it had leaked out much more and floated around in my stomach I would have been in deep trouble
"I've grown used to serious injuries over the years, although I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm just glad to be here to talk about it."
Mike - who has been dating Zara, 26, for four years - also revealed he had no idea how serious his injuries were at first and assumed he had just broken a few ribs.
He added to Britain's The Mail on Sunday newspaper: "I didn't gauge how serious a condition I was in. I did notice however, that at times there were a dozen doctors and nurses all standing by my bed talking, then turning round and looking at me.
"It turned out I had a big tear in my liver. It was more than an inch wide and about an inch deep. My condition was compounded by air released between the lungs and ribs from the hole in my lung."
Zara - who watched in horror as Mike collapsed in agony during the game at London's Twickenham Rugby Stadium - kept a bedside vigil for Mike as he underwent tests following his injury.
(C) BANG Media International
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