A YOUNG Hibernian fan shocked hospital staff when the first words he blurted after suffering a stroke were: “Hearts are s***e.”
Darren could not speak for three months following two surgeries, but he made his feelings known when he heard nurses talking about the bitter Edinburgh rivals.
Darren is still in a wheelchair after he lost feeling of the left side of his body in June last year.
Scans revealed the 22-year-old Hibs fan had suffered a stroke and a bleed on the brain due to a blood clot.
Although his speech is now improving, he could not mutter a word for three long months before his love for Hibernian got the best out of him.
Darren says he was barely conscious when he realised his doctor was a Hearts supporter, but could not help taking a swipe at his arch-rivals.
He told the Scotsman: “It was so scary not being able to speak. It’s so hard to put into words what it’s like not being able to speak.
“I was so confused, I didn’t even know what was happening or anything.
“But when I had a Hearts doctor looking after me, someone had said ‘what’s Hearts’ and I just said ‘Hearts are s***e’.
“It just came to me, I was so happy that I spoke out, everyone laughed.
“It felt so good to just hear my own voice again.”
Although medics gave Darren little chances of surviving the stroke, he is getting better now and hopes to stand at his dad’s wedding later this year – where he is meant to be his best man.
