TOTTENHAM Hotspur's reserve goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini has spoken for the first time about his life-changing motorbike accident.

The 36-year-old fractured both his wrists and injured his pelvis when his BMW motorbike collided with a Ford Fiesta in Forest Road, Walthamstow, on November 12 last year.

The Italian, who signed for Spurs from Chelsea, told the Daily Mail about his recollections of the accident and his hopes of getting back on the pitch.

He said: “One minute I'm on my way to training and the next I am in an ambulance heading for hospital. But I can recall every aspect of the accident. I relive what happened.

"It all happened in a split second but I remember the impact – you fear for your life, of course, and then I remember lying there on the ground."

He said the first thing he did was to check his body to see what was injured and whether he could move his limbs.

He went on: “The pain was intense but it wasn't long before I started thinking about what might happen next. Was the injury serious? Once I realised I wasn't going to die I just started to wonder if it was career threatening.”

The goalkeeper, who had broken both wrists and injured his pelvis, had to be taken to Whipps Cross Hospital by London Ambulance Service, Hems (helicopter emergency medical service), with what LAS described at the time as, “possibly life-changing injuries”.

Following major surgery, the goalkeeper has a metal plate in his right wrist and a screw in his back and is still walking on crutches, but doctors are pleased with his progress.

He told the Mail he feels lucky to be alive and is optimistic about his recovery.

He added: “My aim is definitely to be back playing – all my energies are there – just to try to work well and go back to what I was doing.”

The woman driver of the car and a child passenger were not injured in the crash.

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