FORGET the emergency life-saving procedureor the fact his eyes were momentarily blurred by the colour purple – it was thenewspaper headline "Demon nearly dies" that shocked Ricky Petterd themost.

The young Demon knows he's lucky to be hereafter surviving a potentially fatal burst cyst and punctured lung back in round14. He knows it was the quick thinking of club doctors Andrew Daff and KelFried that ultimately saved his life.

But it wasn't until he lay in a hospital bedtwo days later, reading the paper and the media's account of the incident, thatPetterd realised he nearly died at the age of 18.

"It didn't really kick in for a fewdays, when I was in hospital. I had a read of a few things and actually talkedto the docs about it," he said on Tuesday, a day after being released fromhospital.

"I look at life through a new windownow and I just realise how lucky I actually am."

Petterd remembers everything about the day.He recounted the moment he felt like his chest was collapsing, and how hiscompetitive nature forced him into one last contest before staggering to therooms.

"I remember it all. It's not like Igot a knock in the head or anything, so I didn't lose any memory," hesaid.

"I remember when I actually felt it,and then when I ran off until it gradually got worse and worse until I wasactually unconscious. I just remember not being able to grab my breath, andstruggling to breathe out on the ground.

"I got pains in my stomach and then inmy back, and then I put my hand up to the doc, and ran off. I found out my manwas about to get the ball, so I ran back on, and then I ran off again and wewent downstairs."

He also remembers the fear associated withthe unknown, and the fact he couldn't breathe despite having not been involvedin a collision. He also remembers the moment Fried inserted the "metalspike" into his chest.

"That was in the changerooms, and Irapidly got short of breath and that's when I started losing myconsciousness," he said.

"I remember him putting a needle onthe table, and saying, ‘If you get any worse, I'm going to put this in yourchest,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, no worries.’

"A few seconds later, he stuck it inand everything came back. My vision and my breathing were pretty good.

"I remember when he stuck it in me; Icouldn't feel anything so it didn't hurt, and I remember opening my eyes andeverything was purple.

"The whole room was purple, everyonewas purple, and I didn't know what was going on, and then I closed them for aminute and opened them back up, and everything was fine."

The incident took Petterd completely bysurprise, having not suffered any previous troubles with his lungs or hisbreathing. The only indication something was amiss was when he awoke earlierthis month with sore ribs – something he quickly dismissed as anything serious.

Daff said football was not to blame forPetterd's collapse, and it was rather the "sheer exertion" of thegame that could have contributed. He also explained the young midfielder'ssituation was not just your average collapsed lung.

"It's not too much of a drama if it'sa simple pneumothorax, but what's happened in this instance is the area of thelung that burst formed a valve type of situation where the air was getting outinto the cavity, but when Ricky exhaled, it wasn't coming back the otherway," Daff said.

"It was accumulating in that cavity,which develops enormous pressure, which transports to the other organs of thechest; namely the lungs and the heart."

It’s unlikely the cyst will grow back, andimpossible for Petterd's lung to collapse again after he underwent a"definitive procedure" to keep the organ open.

While he's "still getting puffedout" at the moment, he's confident the incident won't affect his future,and with the help of gentle physio and a gradual move back into training,hasn't totally ruled out playing again this season.

"I'd like to say I'll play again thisyear, at some stage," Petterd said, with a sly glance at Daff.

"But I doubt it. I've just got to getback to walking around and being able to hold my breath, and stuff like that,without getting too puffed out. I've just got to take it easy."