A FOOTBALLER who was partially paralysed after a fight outside a nightclub is to finally leave hospital after eight months.

Billericay Town goalkeeper Nicky Morgan, 26, will leave Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury, where he has been recovering since being attacked outside the Sugar Hut nightclub, in Brentwood, last October.

Amazingly Nicky, who was left partially paralysed from the neck down, is now able to walk independently and looking forward to settling into a new home, in Buckhurst Hill.

He said: “I cannot wait to get back to some kind of normality. Being away from family and friends for eight months has been really hard, but everyone has been so supportive.

“I am looking forward to moving into my own place and being independent again. I’ve got a new car and I’m hoping I will get more strength back in my shoulders as time goes on. I will also continue to have physio sessions when I leave hospital, to keep up my strength.”

The 6ft 7in footballer, who played for Billericay for a year-and-a-half, spent the first seven weeks after the attack in Queen’s Hospital, Romford, before moving to the specialist spinal unit at the Aylesbury hospital.

While his football-playing career could be over, Nicky would like to stay involved in the game in some way.

He said: “I used to be a lorry driver, so it would be good to get back into that, or perhaps football coaching or scouting. I am also hoping to do some charity work, to give back to some of the amazing people who have fundraised for me since I have been in hospital. One of my other aims is to try and run the London Marathon.”

A man, 33, from Kent, who was arrested on suspicion of grievious-bodily harm, in connection with the incident, has been rebailed until June 29.