\n<\/p>\n
Willis’ “worst injury”, it turned out, was a lacerated liver.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t realise they had me on the table and they had 40 pints of blood to keep me going,” he says.<\/p>\n
“They came to me afterwards and said they had given me a 10% chance [of living]. They said ‘obviously you wanted to live and that’s why you are still here’.”<\/p>\n
Willis, who was 42 at the time of his accident, spent five months in hospital.<\/p>\n
Yet barely a year after he was allowed home, he was back holding a golf club.<\/p>\n
Willis, from Ringland, Newport, had originally taken up the sport at the age of 35, having retired from a semi-professional football career which included a stint at Newport County AFC during their spell playing over the border in Moreton-in-Marsh.<\/p>\n
Willis’ golf handicap was 11 before his accident. Remarkably, he now plays off six.<\/p>\n
“I am really proud of that,” he says with a smile.<\/p>\n
“Golf has meant everything to me. I said if I ever got injured and I couldn’t play sport, I wouldn’t really want to be here.<\/p>\n
“Golf means I have been able to compete, playing sport with friends and keeping fit to a degree. It’s great for my wellbeing as well.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n