Cech offers Mason support over skull injury

Petr Cech has offered Ryan Mason his support as the Hull City midfielder recovers from the fractured skull injury he sustained in a Premier League game against Chelsea.

Mason, who has been discharged from hospital, said he feels "lucky to be alive" after a collision with defender Gary Cahill left the 25-year-old needing surgery.

Arsenal goalkeeper Cech has worn protective headgear during matches ever since sustaining a depressed fracture in a match against Reading in October 2006 and he has offered to help Mason with his recovery.

"I offered him my support because I have experience in what he's going through and I'm happy to share my experience if it helps him," Cech told Arsenal Player.

"The possibility to be able to offer him my experience, it was the first thing I had in my mind to do. I'm obviously glad that he's back home and that he's started his recovery process. Hopefully he will get well very soon."

Cech said support from friends and family will be crucial to Mason's recovery, with no timeframe having been set for the midfielder's return to action.

"When you're in this situation, you need people around you to help," said Cech. "Then you have someone who has the experience and can tell you, 'Don't worry about this, it's completely normal, and don’t worry about that because I went through it too'.

"It can obviously help because you have a lot of doubts, a lot of questions and nobody seems to have the answer. You can have someone who went through that and they can tell you not to worry about it, it will just take time and that you can carry on doing what you're doing. 

"You need your closest around you to help you when you don't feel right. It's a situation which not only involves the person who got injured, but also the people who are supporting him, the people around him like his family. Even for them it's a challenging situation."