GIANTS co-captain Phil Davis has spoken for the first time about the injury that threatened his football career and kept him in hospital for almost two weeks.

“It was never really life-threatening however there was a more than likely chance I was going to lose my kidney,” he said.

“That was pretty scary, to be a 23-year-old who loves playing sport, to only have one kidney, that was scary.”

Deep in defence in the first quarter of the Round 1 match against the Swans, Davis was on all-fours with his head over the ball when the Swans’ Craig Bird slid in to the contest, his knee hitting Davis on his right side. 

“It’s an interesting one because I remember we got to hospital and they said, ‘What happened?’ and I said, ‘Oh I went for this ball and I remember this bloke from the side just smashing me’,” Davis said.

“I’ve watched the tapes since then and I definitely didn’t get smashed, I don’t even have a bruise from it. I just remember it was instant pain and then it was only another minute and then it was quarter time.

“We had a look at the kidney and it looked alright, I didn’t have any pain where he was touching ... I thought it was more of a rib so I was like ‘that’s alright, I’ll play with a broken rib, that’s fine, whatever’.

“It was a battle through the game and it hurt, but the adrenaline got me through, no doubt.”

It was back at the GIANTS’ Learning Life Centre for recovery, more than an hour after the game, that things turned serious.

“It was funny though because after the game we were in the change rooms, sang the song, had our meetings, I did some media and spoke to my family for a significant period of time,” Davis said.

“We came back to the facility to do some recovery and half-way up the driveway to get in I started to feel faint and nauseous. 

“(I was) rushed into the doctors room, I was in a fair bit of pain - I was vomiting from the pain - (they) got some morphine into me (but) my blood pressure was really low (and they) called the ambulance.

“They got me to RPA where they have the best specialists going around and from then it got pretty serious from there.

Davis underwent surgery twice and stayed in the Intensive Care Unit of Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney for 10 days, but doctors were able to avoid removing his right kidney and give him the best-possible chance of returning to football.

With his parents, Merv and Jane, his brothers and sisters, and girlfriend Coco by his side, Davis was in hospital for just under two weeks before being released last Friday.

Davis paid tribute to the GIANTS medical staff and the doctors and nurses at RPA who helped him through the ordeal.

“(GIANTS club doctor) Dr Joe Lombardo was amazing, Leroy Lobo the physio was terrific, they got me to RPA where they have the best specialists going around.

“Leroy spent nine-hours post the game with me in emergency, no sleep, no nothing, just sat by my bed with my girlfriend - the two of them just sat there listening to me talking rubbish when I was in a bit of pain.

“But also I had a huge amount of support on twitter and social media from our fans and it was great. Whenever I was allowed to get on my phone I had some great messages, some beautiful messages wishing me all the best. 

“It’s great to know you’ve got that kind of support from people and that really helped.

“I’d like to thank also the people at RPA - they did a great job. All the nurses in intensive care, and on the ward, they really made my stay comfortable and manageable and I had some great specialists.

“They gave me every chance to keep my kidney and I was able to keep it so without (them) I’d be in a completely different position now.”

Davis was back at the club for a short visit on Monday, but there is still no time-frame on his return to football.

“It’s going to be a long time I think. I really hope I’m back this year but my health is of paramount importance to myself,” he said.

“The risk of rupturing it again - I don’t really want to go through what I’ve been through again. I’ll take my time and speak to the right people.

“I’m not going to rush it and I’m really looking forward to the time I do get back, I can play and I can play well.

“The last few days in particular I’ve taken some big strides forward. The first few days in ICU were pretty hard but from where I’ve come from to where I am now, I’m very thankful and I’m feeling great.”