EXCLUSIVE: Knee injury may force March Town United’s Lewis Thompson to turn his back on football
DEVASTATED midfielder Lewis Thompson has admitted he may never play football again after surgeons discovered he was missing a cruciate ligament.
The March Town United star had expected to be back in action by Christmas after having keyhole surgery to explore a long-term knee injury.
But the operation revealed that the 22-year-old’s anterior cruciate ligament - vital for preventing over-extension - had wasted away.
“At the moment it’s 50/50 as to whether I’ll play football again,” said Thompson. “I’m trying to look on the bright side but nobody really knows.
“They went to trim some cartilage off and they found that, over time, the ligament had ruptured and torn. It seems to have gradually wasted away.
“They’re going to have to reconstruct the knee early next year which is a big operation.
“I was expecting to be back for Christmas but no such luck. It was a real shock. At the least, this season has probably been chalked off.”
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Thompson went for an MRI scan this week which confirmed his fears.
The former Wisbech Town player said he may have unwittingly worsened the injury with the vast amount of football he played as a youngster.
“As a teenager I was playing four or five games a week at college and for Wisbech,” he said. “When you’re young you don’t really think about these consequences.
“I’m determined to come back from it because I can’t see myself playing anything else - but it depends on what the surgeons say.”
Thompson made 173 appearances and scored 17 goals for the Fenmen, his boyhood club. He joined March in September after walking out on Ely City.
“I wouldn’t know what to do without football,” he said. “It’s all I have known since I was a kid.”
