Jim Gottfridsson has broken his nose four times.
It has given him serious but.
Now the star opens up about the unknown struggle.
– I tremble just thinking about what could have happened, he says.
Jim Gottfridsson is one of Sweden’s biggest handball stars and a key cog if Blågult is to be able to go far in the upcoming Olympics, where Sweden is one of the favorites to go all the way. But Jim Gottfridsson has a few tough years behind him, when he fought an unknown battle against his health.
Revealing unknown struggles
In a new documentary on SVT Play, Gottfridsson talks about the injuries he sustained during his career. Handball is one of the most physical sports there is, and during his career Gottfridsson has broken his nose no less than four(!) times. Today, he cannot breathe through one nostril, but that has also had other consequences.
The explosions have caused Gottfridsson to have sleep apnea, which causes temporary pauses in breathing when sleeping. This means that Gottfridsson sleeps poorly at night, and in the long run is unusually tired during the day.
– I fall asleep everywhere, all the time; for example when I do puzzles with my son, he says in the SVT documentary.
“I shudder just thinking about it”
Gottfridsson tells Aftonbladet that it does not help him to sleep for eight hours, as he does not enter deep sleep. He also says that he once fell asleep behind the wheel with his family in the car.
– I tremble just thinking about what could have happened, he says to the evening newspaper, and continues:
– I fell asleep while I was driving. Luckily my wife was sitting next to me and took the wheel: “What the hell are you doing, Jim?! You fell asleep,” she said.
There is an operation that would make Gottfridsson’s life better again, and that would remove the sleep apnea. But that would mean too much time away from handball – and another blow to the nose would render the operation in vain. However, he believes that the performance on the field is not affected. When he gets home, however, it gets heavier.
– I feel like a package when I get home. I’m exhausted and sleeping like a baby. Everything just lets go and I have to catch up on sleep.
Sign up for our newsletter
Share