Raul Jimenez recovering from emergency surgery after fracturing skull following clash of heads with Arsenal’s David Luiz
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RAUL JIMENEZ has had surgery after fracturing his skull in a horrific clash of heads with David Luiz.
The Wolves striker, 29, was rushed to hospital by an air ambulance after the sickening collision during last night’s Premier League win over Arsenal.
Jimenez regained consciousness having been knocked out cold by the initial impact.
But scans revealed a fracture which specialists decided needed an operation to repair.
A Wolves statement said: “Raul is comfortable following an operation last night, which he underwent in a London hospital.
“He has since seen his partner Daniela and is now resting.
"He will remain under observation for a few days while he begins his recovery.
“The club would like to thank the medical staff at Arsenal, the NHS paramedics, hospital staff and surgeons who, through their skill and early response, were of such help.
“The club ask that Raul and his family are now afforded a period of space and privacy, before any further updates are provided in due course.”
Jimenez needed oxygen on the pitch after the collision left him unconscious just five minutes into the game with Arsenal.
The crunch left a shocking sound ringing round the Emirates.
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Team-mates waved frantically for medics to reach the stricken forward, who was lying motionless on the ground.
Play was held up for ten minutes as specialists attended to him, before the Mexican was wheeled away on a stretcher straight into a waiting ambulance.
Boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: “He speaks, he is aware but he is doing a scan but now we have to have a proper assessment, but he is in good hands.
“He's OK inside the gravity of the problem. It was a bad moment for everybody and we wish him everything to be OK.
“You see the panic in their eyes and you start thinking ‘how is he?’ We are worried.”
Wolves captain Conor Coady said: “When it happened it was something you knew straight away, and we hope David Luiz is OK as well. It was a horrible clash of heads.
“I jumped with them and you heard it, and as they dropped obviously he was on his side and it was important that we kept him on his side.
“He’s in the hospital and by all accounts he’s awake and breathing and that’s the one thing we’re looking at.
“People’s health and heads and bodies come at the forefront in these situations.
“He’s with the right people and we just hope and pray that everything’s OK because he’s the one we’re thinking about right now.
“It’s a fantastic result but the one thing that matters is that Raul and David Luiz are both OK.”
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Jimenez later regained consciousness and was responding to treatment in a specialist head injury unit to allay fears of a repeat of the horror injury suffered by Ryan Mason in 2017.
Mason’s career was ended after he suffered a fractured skull in an almost identical clash of heads, on that occasion with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill.