Crystal Palace Ace Pape Souare Relives Details of Horrific Car Crash as He Edges Nearer to Return

Crystal Palace defender Pape Souare has opened up about the horrific car crash which almost took his career away from him last September, which saw him airlifted to the hospital after being involved in a car smash whilst travelling back from Heathrow airport. 

The 27-year-old - who suffered a break in his thighbone and jaw in the crash - had to be rescued from his crumpled car by firefighters, and the injuries he sustained has seen him miss more than a year of action for the Eagles. 

After fearing the worst that he would not be able to play professional football again, Souare made his return to football for Crystal Palace's Under-23 side at the end of August.

With the fight to make an appearance for Crystal Palace's first team still on-going, Souare sat down with the BBC to recall the moment he crashed into the central reservation.

He said: "It was a normal day, I was coming from Heathrow after picking up my friend. I was maybe 10 minutes from my house and this accident happened.

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"It seemed like I couldn’t move my leg and I was just thinking this is something serious.

“A man was driving past and came in my car and tried to help me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything else so I just listened to him, he was very kind, he was helping he, he was saying my name.

"At that moment you could do something stupid like moving your leg or trying to get out so that person helped me a lot.

"You can't move on after this kind of accident. You have to think about whether you can play football again or not everyday. You just have to keep going like I have done."

The defender joined the Eagles in 2015 and quickly became an integral part of the team before the accident, and with a return to first team action closing in the 27-year-old recalled the moment he was inspired by the Eagles faithful to return to full fitness.

“When I heard the fans singing my name after 23 minutes I was very happy and it was one of the greatest motivations I had," he added.