'I thought it was lights out': Rio Ferdinand speaks for first time on virus which left him hospitalised

Rio Ferdinand was left fearing the worst when recently being hospitalised with a virus.

The Manchester United legend was last week due to be part of TNT Sports' coverage of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final second leg clash against Paris Saint-Germain, but was rushed to hospital on the eve of the game.

Ferdinand posted on social media from his hospital bed ahead of the game: "Gutted to be missing the Semi-Finals this week on @footballontnt!! Wishing the team all the best — I’ll be watching every minute from the iPad!"

Speaking for the first time about his ordeal, the 46-year-old has revealed he underwent a brain scan after projectile vomiting at home with a severe headache.

When the doctor mentioned a brain scan and the ambulance, the panic was nuts

Rio Ferdinand

"I had a mad virus, bro," he said on his podcast. "I thought lights were out at some point, I thought it was gonna happen. I thought I was minutes away from lights out, seriously. I was in my house, I was in my bed and I couldn't even open my eyes.

"Then, the headache I had… I don't get migraines or nothing else so I don't know what they're like. I thought my head was in a vice and my eyes were going to pop out. Then, I was being sick, projectile vomiting in the toilet, I got back to bed and I was having vertigo. I was holding onto the sheets, I didn't know where I was. It was crazy."

He added: "I had to go to hospital and the doctor even said to me: 'do you want an ambulance?' So that's when I knew. He went: 'we're going to get your brain scanned'.

"I thought it was a virus or a flu or something so when he mentioned brain scan and the ambulance, the panic was nuts. I went to hospital and I was in there for a few days. I couldn't even enjoy the hospital food. The soup and the ice cream normally does wonders."