Eddie Howe has heaped praise on Newcastle United’s head of medicine, Dr Paul Catterson, after the medic made a quick intervention to spot his worsening condition as he battled the early stages of pneumonia.
The Magpies boss made a surprise return to Newcastle training this week and was back in the hotseat for Friday’s briefing with the media on Tyneside. During a 30-minute question and answer question with reporters, Howe spoke fondly of the love shown to him from supporters, the care he received in hospital and the early help afforded by Catterson as he decided to take a step back from his coaching responsibilities.
“I felt really bad, but I didn’t know how bad,” Howe admitted when discussing his early symptoms. “I’m one of those people, probably like most men, that you sort of go through everything.
“You don’t necessarily then offer yourself to doctors and people because you think ‘I’ll be OK in a couple of days. I’ll fight through it.’ And I’m sort of very much in the mindset that I’ll go through anything until you can’t.
“So I was very thankful that the doctor here, Paul Catterson, acted quickly, because without that quick intervention then possibly it could have had a different outcome. And then I was treated really well in hospital and thankfully now through the worst of it.”
Catterson, who in 2019 received a special award for his role in saving the life of a former Premier League referee, made the trip to Howe’s home to assess the United chief before it was known quite how serious his symptoms were. Shortly after, and before the visit of Manchester United, Howe would hand the reins over to Jason Tindall before voluntarily arriving at hospital for treatment.
“I’m very lucky in the job that I’m in that I have very good people I can reach out to,” Howe added. “Paul came to see me at home and it was him taking some blood tests that highlighted what the problem was and how serious the problem was.
“Without his care and without him wanting to come and visit me – because it wasn’t me going to him, it was him coming to me – that is why I consider myself very fortunate to have that. I’m talking to the general public here who don’t have that support, that they might need to be the ones to initiate that.”
Howe admits he is not ‘100%’ physically but insists he feels close to his maximum mentally since returning earlier this week. The 47-year-old does admit, however, he may not be running around the training pitch quite so much as he has been used to in recent years.
