By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Stratos Perperoglou opened up on the difficult situation he faced after winning his second out of three EuroLeague titles. The 35-year-old Greek forward of Crvena Zvezda mts talked to EuroLeague the problem that sidelined him for several months in 2011 and nearly forced him to retire.
“I was sitting on the plane and I didn’t get up for the whole flight, and when I landed I started feeling some pain in my right leg area. It was right away after I got out of my seat” he remembered.
“Thankfully, the following day we had the physicals with the national team and I asked the doctor to check my calf. We did an MRI and it didn’t show anything, so the doctor said ‘Why don’t we check the veins? Just in case,’” Perperoglou recounted, “So we did that, and the doctor was like, ‘Don’t even move! Your vein is all clogged and it’s a serious condition.’”
“They gave me blood thinners right away and I had to stay in the hospital for ten days or so. Then, because of those blood thinners, I could not play. It was dangerous to get hit on the court, because it could start internal bleeding” he added, “Honestly, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play again. I heard stories about other players who had what I had, and it can be career-threatening.”