Rugby player becomes coach after brain haemorrhage

When Nick Warren collapsed in the shower with a brain haemorrhage he was not expected to survive the night.

Five years on the 52-year-old former rugby player is back on his feet and coaching at Vigo Rugby Football Club, in Meopham, Kent.

When the former number seven openside flanker was still playing he weighed almost 17 stone (108kg) and would stare down all-comers.

But after his collapse, on 17 August 2021, part of his skull was removed to relieve pressure on his brain and he was left unable to walk or talk.

He is still paralysed down the right side of his body, which has no feeling.

The father-of-four said: "There were times I thought 'what's the point of being here? I don't want to be living this'."

He said when a nurse threatened to tell his son how he was feeling he knew he had to snap out out it.

Warren, from Chislehurst, south-east London, said: "I remember the battles I had with my physio, called Emma, an amazing woman.

"She used to call me 'The stubborn one'.

"She said, 'I am going to prove I'm more stubborn than you are'. I came out second best."

It took him eight months before he could walk.

When Warren, who used to run a haulage a company, was told about Vigo RFC by a friend at Sidcup rugby club he decided to make contact.

"I knew sitting on a sofa watching television wasn't going to help me so I had to do something," he said.

Talks followed with Vigo.

"Thankfully they invited me in," Warren said.

Vigo player Darren Cox says Warren is "a breath of fresh air".

Club captain Dominic Mickleburgh says: "We want to keep Nick at the club for as long as possible."

England Rugby development officer, Chris Spedding, adds: "You can go through what Nick's gone through and feel like you can't coach again and actually you can.

"And he's showing that, and I think that's so special."

Warren says he has ambitions outside of rugby.

As well as hoping to play golf again one day, he has other challenges on his to-do list.

He said: "I would love to walk like a human being again, and I would love to hike to Everest base camp. That is my own personal goal.

"For someone who was told they would never walk again, what is the toughest thing you can do?

"Hiking to Everest base camp. So that is on my list."

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