TV star Tony Squires reveals the shocking way he almost died of a head injury in his sleep
Sports TV presenter Tony Squires reveals the shocking way he nearly DIEd from a head injury in his sleep – complete with a horrifying photo of the aftermath
- Suffers from RBD, a sleep disorder
- Means he can act out his dreams
- Got injured in rugby league dream
Having covered professional sport for over three decades, Australian media personality and broadcaster Tony Squires has seen some big hits, but one of the most brutal was the one he put on himself.
The host of The back page And Cricket legends spoke to Hughesy, Ed and Erin today 2DayFM about a recent incident where he tried to tackle furniture in his sleep, only to get off on second place.
Presenter Dave Hughes introduced the broadcaster by saying that Squires nearly died one night recently.
“I had this wonderful thing called REM sleep disorder, Hughesy,” Squires told the panel Friday.
RBD is a sleep disorder in which individuals physically act out their dreams during the REM sleep stage, as opposed to being relatively still like typical sleepers. This can pose a danger to themselves and whoever is in bed with them.
Squires may not be able to wear a headset for a while after the injuries he suffered when he tackled a phantom rugby league player in his sleep
The television veteran has worked in the sports media industry since the early 1990s and is the current host of The Back Page
“When most people get into REM sleep, they can’t move their muscles while they’re dreaming and they’re not acting it out,” Squires continued.
‘I get to portray them.
“The one last night was particularly good, I was actually staying at my mother’s house.
‘In my dream I was playing rugby league… Phil Gould was the coach and we were flogged.
“After the break he came out and I was put on fullback. I remember looking down in my dream and seeing that I was wearing board shorts and a T-shirt and thought it was weird.
“Almost immediately after we started the second half, someone broke through and I thought, ‘Am I really going to hit this guy?’
“So I lined him up, I started running and I dove right into him.
“What I actually dove into right away was the corner table next to the bed in the guest room at my mother’s house.”
Squires says he has to sleep alone now because his RBD means he could harm his partner in bed as well as himself
Squires shared an image of the injury with the Hughest, Ed & Erin team showing how much damage he had done to his ear
Squires has shared the gruesome image of his injuries, which included a deep cut across one of his ears.
“It was like being in a knife fight,” he said.
“Ears are bleeding profusely—all over the scalp—and the weird thing was knowing I wasn’t on a football field. I knew it had been a dream.’
“I think as the years go by it happens more and more and there are fewer people who can stay in bed with me.”