The wife of Sean Cox has said she plans to move to the UK to ensure her husband gets the best care possible.
Martina Cox said Sean’s time in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin will come to an end in June.
She said: “He’s doing okay considering the horrific injuries that he has.
“It’s a very slow progress but he is making progress and obviously the most progress he has actually made has been since he went to the rehabilitation centre in October.
“That’s really important that he gets the level of rehab and he’s going to need that for a long time going forward.
“The end of June he’s finished. What we are looking at now is rehab facilities in the UK because unfortunately in Ireland there isn’t anything else after the NRH which is shameful.
“I am currently looking into that so when we find the best fit for Sean I’m going to move over there.
“He will probably be over there between three to four months depending on the programme that they give him.
“Sean could do with being there (NRH) for another year but unfortunately you only get a certain amount of time so after the NRH we have to fund his rehabilitation in the UK.”
Sean, 54, from Dunboyne, Co Meath suffered brutal brain injuries after he was attacked by Roma fans ahead of a Champion’s League semi-final at Anfield last April.
In two weeks time it will mark a year since the father of three was attacked.
Sean Cox will attend Liverpool Legends v Republic of Ireland Legends fundraiser in Aviva Stadium
Mrs Cox said her family will draw up a rota to make sure people are constantly coming over to see Sean while he is in the UK.
She said: “I’ve two [children] in college and one is doing the Leaving Cert at the minute.
“We’ll do a rota between us which is what we’ve done for the last year between Sean’s brothers and sisters and some of my family as well.
“I’ll be there all of the time and then people will come and go.”
Mrs Cox said her husband is currently struggling to communicate which is causing frustration for him.
She said: “If you sing a song to him he’ll actually sing along with it but just general words are quite difficult.
Everton defender Seamus Coleman makes another huge donation to Sean Cox fund
“His speech is slow, he’s finding that part difficult and it’s quite frustrating for him, he can’t get the words out.
“He sings all sorts, Aslan, Liverpool [You never walk alone] we sing that a lot.”
Sean will leave the hospital for the first time to attend a charity football match at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.
A team of Liverpool FC legends will play a Republic of Ireland XI team to raise funds for his rehabilitation.
Liverpool fan Sean Cox's horrifying injuries revealed as Roma fan sentenced
Speaking to the Ray D’Arcy show on RTE Radio One, Mrs Cox said her “fighter” husband will take this opportunity in his stride.
She said: “He hasn’t done anything like this, he’s only been home to the house twice for a couple of hours so it is a big milestone.
“He’s very determined and always have been. Any challenge that has come his way he’s done it.
“You can’t give up but I think one of the most important things to know is that he has to get the proper rehabilitation because if he doesn’t get that he won’t progress.
“So that’s really important and that’s why we are giving him this opportunity.”
