HE'S the sporting hero who helped take England to the semi-finals of Euro '96 and as been hailed as the most "naturally talented English footballer of his generation" .
But Paul Gascoigne's life off the pitch has been plagued by addiction and ill-health that has left him homeless and, at times, close to death.
Having 'died' twice, survived an 18-day coma and horror drink-drug binges, he has previously claimed to have "more lives than a cat".
It's claimed Gazza, 58, is now in a 'stable' condition and being monitored in an acute medical unit after he was discovered semi-conscious at home on Friday evening.
Fans who have watched him bounce back numerous times will be hoping the new health scare is just another temporary blip for the former England ace, after he was rushed to an intensive care ward.
Pal Steve Foster says hospital was "the best possible place for him to be right now" and thanked well-wishers who "want to see him back at his best".
It's yet another scare for the embattled addict, whose post-footballing career has been characterised by drug and alcohol battles.
He once claimed to have survived for four months without food or water on a deadly daily intake of four bottles of whiskey and "about 16 lines of coke".
By his own admission, he's a medical marvel, as he previously said: "I'm not scared of anything, because of what I've been through in my life."
Gazza's issues predate the drinking demons of his footballing career – stretching back to his childhood growing up in County Durham.
He has previously spoken about childhood trauma from witnessing his parents' violent arguments and later domestic abuse between his three siblings.
At the age of ten, Gazza was scarred by tragedy, after watching his brother's friend Steven Spraggon die in his arms.
He was "mucking around" outside a local shop when he ran into the road and was knocked down by an ice cream truck.
"I was on my own with him for what seemed like ages," Gascoigne revealed in his 2005 autobiography Gazza. "It was the first dead body I'd ever seen.
"I felt Stephen's death was my fault. I still go over the accident in my mind. Just speaking of it can make me cry."
His hod-carrier father John lived away in Germany for a year while searching for work and his mum had to take three jobs to make ends meet.
When John returned, he suffered a brain hemorrhage that meant he would never work again, furthering the family instability for his kids.
"It was around this time I started displaying peculiar twitches and making lots of noises," Gazza said.
By 13, his mental health declined. He could no longer sleep without lights on and sought psychiatric help for depression and a slot machine addiction, which he shoplifted to fund.
Gazza's one escape was on the pitch, where he admitted: "I didn't have twitches or worry about death when I was playing football."
He impressed while playing at Redheugh Boys' Club and Gateshead Boys youth teams before being signed as an apprentice for Newcastle United on his 16th birthday.
When I'm drinking, I forget about everyone and don't realise the hurt I'm doing to everyone but I've also got to think about the hurt I was doing to myself
Gazza
There, Gazza excelled, including scoring a 30-yard screamer in the Youth Cup final, which manager Jack Charlton remarked: "You'll have to wait a thousand years to see that again."
He went on to become one of the most successful midfielders ever, playing for Newcastle and Tottenham, before moving to Lazio, and earning 57 England caps.
He also provided one of the game's most iconic moments – when a yellow card in the 1990 World Cup semis in Turin saw him leave the pitch in tears.
As "Gazzamania" gripped the UK, Terry Wogan described him as "probably the most popular man in Britain today" in September 1990.
But off the pitch, he was developing more unhealthy habits including binging on Mars bars and junk food, which would later lead to him purging to lose weight ahead of matches.
It would lead to a destructive relationship with alcohol that, in 1998, would lead to him being first admitted to the Priory Hospital following hitting "rock bottom" after downing 32 whisky shots in a night.
He would have at least seven more stints at various rehabs including a prestigious Arizona spot, which cost £100,000, and a £6,000-a-month Southampton clinic, and has been sectioned multiple times.
"I'm an alcoholic like George [Best] and I know that – in some ways – my behaviour has been even more self-destructive than his. George never took cocaine," Gazza later would admit.
Raoul Moat stand-off
A decade on from his first rehab stint, he was sectioned under the mental health act after threatening self-harm and holding a night porter by the throat after a 3am fire alarm in a hotel.
Later that year, Gazza tried to end his life with alcohol and drugs but thankfully medics saved his life. While he spent spates sober in the coming years, he was continuously dogged by addiction.
The dizzying heights of fame he reached in football – making 57 appearances for England and playing for clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Everton – were becoming overshadowed by his struggles.
Notably in 2010, during killer Raoul Moat's stand-off with police, an intoxicated Gazza showed up near a police cordon claiming he could convince him to hand himself in by taking him fishing.
"I just remember that I was in a taxi, I had a fishing rod, some chicken, four cans of lager and a fishing jacket," the footballer later told The Mirror. Fortunately, he was turned away.
He added: "I was telling the taxi driver I could save him. I told him: 'Listen, I have been through so much, I am the best therapist in the world, I can save him'. I think that I genuinely believed that."
That same year, he was charged with drink driving twice, including once being four times over the limit, and skipped his sentencing hearing to enter rehab.
"He is not here because he has decided to put himself in for treatment, that's the bit that causes me concern. Who's running the show?" the judge said.
Gazza would spend three years sober until 2013 when he succumbed to binges. At the time he complained: "The last 11 years, I've probably drank 14 months out of it.
"I was three years sober and then I had a four or five weeks binge. It's just those little binges, so I've just got to stop those binges.
"When I'm drinking, I forget about everyone and don't realise the hurt I'm doing to everyone but I've also got to think about the hurt I was doing to myself."
'More lives than a cat'
Despite falling off the wagon, he said: "I don't know if I'm ever going to touch a drink again. I just know that I'm not drinking today."
In 2014, Gaza was admitted to rehab again – for the seventh time – and later that year was hospitalised twice due to his drinking.
Struggles have continued to plague the widely-beloved footballer, who said in a 2021 interview that he will "always be an alcoholic" but that he was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings .
I have had near-death experiences, 36 operations, I've died a couple of times and they've put me in a coma for 18 days
Gazza
The dad-of-three, who previously admitted being physically violent against his first wife Sheryl, last year revealed he was homeless and sleeping in a spare room at his agent Katie Davies' house in Poole, Dorset.
"I called Katie up in November a few years ago crying my eyes out," he said. "What I put myself through and other people, jail and rehab – taking cocaine off toilet seats."
Gazza described himself as a "sad drunk" and that he has "let myself down" falling into the grips of alcoholism since his playing career finished.
"The things I've put myself through, I'm lucky to still be sitting here," he told The High Performance Podcast. "I don't go out and drink. I drink indoors."
He said if he wanted to "make it a bad day" he would "go down the pub" and once recoiled after a boozy session, to see "30 messages or missed calls" from worried loved ones.
Gazza has been open about his battles, revealing he too believes he has "more lives than a cat" due to surviving death multiple times and often appears to be consumed with regret.
"I have had near-death experiences, 36 operations, I've died a couple of times and they've put me in a coma for 18 days," he said.
"People know Paul Gascoigne but Gazza, no one knows, even me sometimes. I've spent a lot of years being down.
"When I did my ligaments and then my kneecap, I missed four years of football. I would've got 100 caps."
Sadly, just weeks before his most recent hospitalisation, Gazza seemed optimistic, stating that he felt "better now than I have in years"
"I hope I am at a point that I can look back over everything I've gone through with a different, more positive, perspective," he said.
This recent scare suggests the battle may not be over for the beleaguered legend – but as ever, the beloved figure will have an army of well-wishers hoping he has a speedy recovery.
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