Rio Ferdinand has revealed he thought he was "minutes away from lights out" after a "crazy" health issue left him hospitalised and fearing for his life. The former Manchester United and England defender spent days in hospital after he was struck down by a virus, which saw him pull out of TNT Sports' European football coverage. The 46-year-old had been meant to provide analysis of Arsenal's Champions League clash with PSG before his co-commentary duties for Manchester United's Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao. However, Ferdinand was forced to pull out of both games as he updated fans with a message from his hospital bed, accompanied by a photo of himself making a thumbs up gesture. Taking to X, the pundit wrote: "Gutted to be missing the Semi-Finals this week on TNT Sports!! Wishing the team all the best — I’ll be watching every minute from the iPad!" Having now left hospital, he has revealed exactly what was wrong, with the "crazy" illness causing him to experience migraines and vertigo as well as projectile vomiting. Admitting he thought he might die, he explained on his show Rio Ferdinand Presents : "I had a mad virus. I thought lights were out at some point, I thought it was gonna happen. "I thought I was minutes away from lights out, seriously. "I was in my house, I was in my bed like this [pained expression] and I couldn't even open my eyes. "Then, the headache I had… I don't get migraines or nothing else so I don't know what they're like. I thought my head was in a vice and my eyes were going to pop out. "Then, I was being sick, projectile vomiting in the toilet, I got back to bed and I was having vertigo. "I was holding onto the sheets, I didn't know where I was. It was crazy." Ferdinand added that he had started panicking after doctors told him he would need a brain scan, having already been offered an ambulance to take him to hospital as soon as possible. "I had to go to hospital and the doctor even said to me, "Do you want an ambulance"? So that's when I knew," the former England international recalled. "He went, 'We're going to get your brain scanned'. I thought it was a virus or a flu or something so when he mentioned brain scan and the ambulance, the panic was nuts. "I went to hospital and I was in there for a few days. I couldn't even enjoy the hospital food. The soup and the ice cream normally does wonders."