Former Reading FC player Paul Canoville is convinced it was his sister June’s voice that saved his life, cutting through the coma to bring him back from the brink.

The 59-year-old spent six weeks fighting for his life in intensive care in a bleak start to 2021, and can only remember a series of lucid dreams.

Hospital staff would hold a mobile phone to the sedated Canoville’s ear, while his sister June urged him on.

He said those one-way conversations are the reason he recovered, from a cocktail of Covid-19 and three emergency operations after a bowel obstruction.

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“My sister couldn’t visit the hospital because of Covid, but the nurses told me she was always on the phone,” Canoville said.

“The nurses were holding my hand and telling me that I kept squeezing it every time I heard her voice.

“I was sedated for six weeks, and I was having dreams that seemed so real, and I could never walk, every time I was sitting down.

“On a plane, a fishing boat, a club, I was organising parties, and all the time in my ear hearing someone calling from above calling my name, ‘Paul, Paul? Do you know where you are?’ “Then when I came out I had to gain strength again, and my partner really pushed me through it all.

“It was more than an eye opener. I wouldn’t be able to count up the number of close calls I’ve had in my life, but this one was different, serious.”

Read more: A slice of glory amidst all the pain: Welcome to Reading Football Club

Canoville has lived on the streets, beaten cancer three times and drug addiction twice – and still rates this year’s near miss the toughest of all.

“More than ever, I know I’ve got to use this platform, challenging racism and standing up for the youth from minority and under-represented communities.”

Canoville was racially abused on his Chelsea debut, by his own fans, at Crystal Palace in April 1982.

The Southall-born winger excelled for his home club, but would later switch to Reading in the hope of a fresh start,

A knee injury in 1987 ended his career prematurely.

Fast forward more than 30 years though, and Canoville now has a suite named in his honour at Stamford Bridge.

The Paul Canoville Foundation continues to advise and mentor youngsters on the pitfalls of life’s murkier paths.

Canoville met Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street last week in an event for the Damilola Taylor Trust, urging young Black people to take up roles in the police force.

“The police need more black recruits, and black police officers have told me the pros and cons. But it’s a genuine career opportunity, and as a society we need to change organisations from the inside.

“Did I ever think I would get to Number 10? No way. But now I’ve made it this far I’m not about to stop.”