'Partying could have cost me my life,' admits Serena Williams after recovering from blood clot on her lung
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Arduous: Serena Williams spoke yesterday of the strenuous past year, spent recovering from three operations"Serena Williams always did know how to put on a show, and she captivated an audience with tales of life-saving surgery, of slicing her foot open on broken glass and of the mental torment endured since she last struck a tennis ball in competitive anger. The 13-time Grand Slam champion, who has not played tennis competitively since last summer, told of her arduous recovery after three major operations.Speaking at a press conference during the Aegon International tennis tournament in Eastbourne yesterday, Serena revealed the graphic detail of her ordeal as she underwent surgery to remove a blood clot on the lung. Williams, 29, said: 'It has been a totally different road because I've had some serious health problems and I was literally on my deathbed at one point.
'The doctors said that I had several clots bilaterally in both lungs. They said if they had caught it two days later, it could have been a lot more serious, possibly career-ending.
'A lot of people die from it because you don't recognise it. I couldn't breathe. I honestly just thought I was out of shape and needed to get on the treadmill or hit the elliptical (cross-trainer). 'It was my physio who forced me to go to the hospital whereas I was actually on the way to a party. She said, "No, you need to go to the hospital". I'm glad I didn't go to that party.'
Back in the game: Serena played at the Aegon International tennis tournament in Eastbourne yesterday"
'After it was all over, there were a few days when I didn't get out of bed. So much had happened to me and I couldn't understand why. I was thinking, "Just what didn't I do or what did I do to deserve this?" ' 'We were leaving the restaurant, I was walking and then I felt something. I just stepped back and said, "Oh, that really hurts". There was a massive pool of blood. I was like, "Oh my gosh". 'I ended up fainting because I lost so much blood. I ended up getting stitches in both feet. One was on top and one was on the bottom of my other foot. It sliced right through my ligament. I didn't know that, I just knew that my toe was hanging low.
'The second surgery on my foot was way tougher than the first, especially mentally. More mentally tough than anything I have been through in my life outside of my sister's passing (her eldest sister Yetunde Price was shot dead in 2003).'I was in a cast for 20 weeks. I'd rather have been in jail for 20 weeks because I really hated that cast. Having your foot in one position so long, not moving it, not being able to walk or do a lot of things caused a lot of the problems.
Sister act: Serena, right, and Venus, who also suffered from a hip injury and took a five-month break"After it was all over, there were a few days when I didn't get out of bed. So much had happened to me and I couldn't understand why. I was thinking, "Just what didn't I do or what did I do to deserve this?" ' In such a chilling context, the next three weeks are about enjoyment for the younger Williams sister, who will be competing in Wimbledon.'I'm just excited to be here and playing. I hope tennis has missed Venus and me.
'If tennis has missed us half as much as we've missed tennis, we're in a good place. This is a comeback that's totally different from any other comeback.'
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