CAMERON Brannagan has revealed for the first time he feared he would lose his sight after being hospitalised last month.

The Oxford United midfielder is hugely grateful to the staff at the John Radcliffe for their quick action.

It made all the difference to treat inflammation behind the eye, which occurs just twice a year in the entire country.

He is now on the mend after they saved his right eye, while the left eye is making steady improvement.

Positive news from a check-up on Monday came as a huge relief to all at United.

The 24-year-old will do some work on his own at the training ground today, but cannot come into contact with anyone else until his course of steroids finish this month.

Also read: Cameron Brannagan - Positive mindset has helped in tough time

Able to reflect on it now, it has been a daunting journey for Brannagan.

He said: “I closed my right eye and my mum said to me ‘can you see me with your left eye?’

“I said I couldn’t see her at all. When I could see my mum was upset like that it made me a little bit worse.

“Football didn’t come into my mind. I was thinking ‘this could be really serious’.

“That Friday was the longest night of my life.”

Brannagan first felt something was wrong on October 13, the day United’s rearranged fixture with Crewe Alexandra was called off.

They had an in-house game at the Kassam, where he came off after 20 minutes.

Hours of tests at the John Radcliffe two days later struggled to come up with an explanation for the blurred vision.

But that evening he had an urgent call to return to the Oxford Eye Hospital the following day to see specialist Dr Sharma.

At that stage it had been narrowed down to an infection or inflammation.

The latter avoided risky surgery, if steroids had an effect.

Brannagan said: “When I went back to see the specialist panic was setting in, my head was so gone.

“She said we’ve got a good feeling it is inflammation and a weight came off my shoulders.

“She said ‘I think we’ve saved your right eye’. I was thinking ‘that’s brilliant, I can’t thank you enough’.

“I’m going to do something for the hospital and the eye consultancy.

“I owe them so much.”

He added: “It was a race against time.

“If I hadn’t been called back in on the Friday and I’d left it until the Monday she said I would have been blind in my right eye.”

The steroids have been working, but they have weakened his immune system.

With coronavirus a real concern, Brannagan has effectively been confined to his home for four weeks.

It has been a nervous wait and although the severity of the condition has been kept quiet while the future was uncertain, goodwill messages have been a huge comfort.

He said: “Everyone from the club, the players, the staff, Dr Sharma, the hospital, all the fans that have sent their wishes.

“I’ve seen them all and I can’t thank everyone enough for supporting me and being there for me when I needed them.”