Fleetwood Town defender Denver Hume has been left recovering from a serious brain injury after what his manager described as an “innocuous collision” during training last month.
The 27-year-old suffered a bleed on the brain following the incident, a shock setback that stunned teammates and staff at the League Two club.
Hume, who joined Fleetwood in the summer and has made eight league appearances this season, has spent the past several weeks undergoing specialist medical assessments as doctors monitored his condition.
Manager Pete Wild revealed the gravity of the situation, telling the BBC: “He’s been having a battery of testing now for four or five weeks and luckily the good news is that it will heal and he is on the mend.
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"He’s still got a lot to process mentally from the incident. It’s certainly knocked him and us for six because it was so innocuous.”
Hume has now been cleared for “very light exercises” as part of the early stages of his rehabilitation.
But Wild warned that there is still a long road ahead before the full-back can even consider a return to competitive football.
Denver Hume only joined Fleetwood Town back in the summer
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“He’s been cleared to do some light - very light - exercises and hopefully start a return to more physical life,” Wild said.
“That’ll take some time and he’s got another follow-up in January, where we’ll start to see some more information for where that takes him.
“There is a possibility he can play before the end of the season, but I can’t say he will or won’t.
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Pete Wild has opened up on Denver Hume after his catastrophic brain injury
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"Having sustained this injury it’s going to be down to how he reacts coming back to physical fitness and how he reacts mentally to coming back to contact and football.”
Wild went on to give a harrowing account of how the injury occurred, despite the challenge appearing harmless at first glance.
“It’s the worst one I’ve seen,” he admitted.
“It was so innocuous. He’s looking at the ball and the lad comes from the side to put the ball back in.
"It’s hanging in the air, he spins his head and makes full contact with his knee.
"He hit the deck straightaway, so it’s physios sprinting over and you take it from there.
Denver Hume started his career at Sunderland
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“Then the extent came out over the next 24-48 hours - it makes you think what’s important in life when things like that happen.”
Despite the traumatic experience, Wild said Hume remains upbeat.
“I’ve spoken to Denver this week, he seems in good spirits and is trying to get back to some normality in life," he said.
Hume began his career at Sunderland, progressing through their academy before making 84 senior appearances.
He left for Portsmouth in 2022 and later joined Grimsby Town before earning his summer move to Fleetwood.
His most recent outing came on October 11 in a 3–2 win over Harrogate, where he completed the full 90 minutes.