Cameron Brannagan owes Oxford United a debt. A debt that he thinks he can never repay, even though he wants to achieve something to show his gratitude.
That's promotion to the Championship as Brannagan is the key member of the team that will head to Wembley to take on Bolton Wanderers in the League One play-off final on Saturday.
"The least I can do is take this club out of the competition," says the 28-year-old midfielder. "If you look at the bigger picture, there are bigger things than football and what they did for me at the time, honestly, they probably saved my life."
It is best if Brannagan himself explains what happened "at that moment". After experiencing an episode so traumatic and potentially life-changing, once the scene is set, he should stand in his words.
It's October 2020 and Oxford's league match at home to Crewe Alexandra is canceled due to a Covid outbreak in the visitors' camp. So Oxford organized a match between the team and this is where Brannagan continues the story.
"I woke up with a blur in my left eye," he says. "And it went to the right and I'm one of those people who says, 'Ah, tomorrow it will go away. I do not mind.' But that never happened.
"It was strange. I'll never forget the night. The Crewe game was postponed and we were playing an in-house game and I thought, 'This just isn't right. I looked at the ball and it was strange and I thought: "I just need to get this checked out."
Brannagan was released after twenty minutes. If it had not been a practice match, he said he would never have done that. He would have continued and the worst could have happened. He could have gone blind.
"I came out and was in the hospital for eight, nine hours and no one knew what it was because they had never seen it before. The specialist then called me and said: 'I need you urgently tomorrow morning.'
"I went in and she said, 'If it's inflammation, I hope to save your sight. If it is an infection, you can go blind in both eyes. You will have to undergo surgery. "
Just let that sink in for a moment. It was that grim.
Fortunately for Brannagan, it was an inflammation, surgery was avoided and his sight was saved. "But I would have gone blind within 24 hours if the specialist hadn't spotted it then," he says, also paying tribute to highly regarded Oxford physio Amy Cranston.
"The hospital saved me, and so did the club, because they put me in the way they did. I'll never forget it," says Brannagan.
"The specialist [Dr Sri Sharma] said to me, 'Look, I'm not sure you can extend your career.' I immediately said, without hesitation, "No, I will." And that's just me. I've always been like that. Everyone says I can't do something, I want to prove them wrong.
"Months later I remember going back for my check-up and her saying to me, 'What you've done is remarkable.' Because I came back and ended up in the PFA Team of the Season.
Fortunately, what happened to Brannagan, who played again in January, was a one-off. There is no risk that the condition - he has even erased the name from his memory - will return. He has fully recovered. 'It's rare that you never hear about it. They don't know why it happened," he said.
At the time, Brannagan was put on a heavy course of steroids, taking up to 20 pills a day, and his body bloated, but he is back to normal. The only effect is a 'scar' when he closes his right eye.
Unsurprisingly, it changed his life. "Extremely normal," says Brannagan. "They say things happen for a reason. Did it happen for a reason? I think maybe it was. Maybe a realization that I am here. Don't know. I'm just chatting now. But that's how I put things.
"I look back and think, 'Did I not appreciate things?' I'm not so sure. But it has made me more aware. I remember coming back and talking to people and you know, if someone was having a bad day at training, I'd say, 'Come on mate, honestly, enjoy it because it can change in the blink of an eye.' And something like that makes you aware. Life can change with the click of a finger.
"Like I said, I couldn't pay this club back and that's me to be honest. There are bigger things than football and what they did for me at the time, to be honest they probably saved my life."
It partly explains why Brannagan stayed. He has received offers to play in the Championship and should play at a higher level. But he would like to do that with Oxford.
"Listen, there were times when I was probably about to leave," he says. "But there is something about this club. I have been here for six years now and have experienced a lot with the club.
"I remember when I signed and my goal was to try and get out of this league and that's what I always wanted to do, that's been my passion and I want to get the job done. Really and truly. And to pay back the club and the fans who were there every week, there is no better feeling than that. That's better than any paycheck or something. That's how I am."
Brannagan joined Liverpool at the age of five. Sixteen years later, and after nine first-team appearances, he left for Oxford. "I wanted to play," he says. "I played under Brendan Rodgers and then Jurgen Klopp and I can't thank them enough, from the whole academy staff to the first-team coaches.
"But I think back and maybe one thing: I was a little too nice when I was there. I was a young kid and I didn't really want to get in people's faces. You show them that respect, don't get me wrong, but if you want to play every week and play at the top, you have to be like that, be pushy.
"I now tell the young boys that you have to have that in you, because if you don't, you will be bypassed. I probably needed a few loans to learn that. You have to go play because 21s football is so different from league football. It's about people's livelihoods, and you don't have that in youth football. I left there and came here. I don't know how many games I've played now, but I love it."
Klopp tried to send Brannagan out on loan but it was a deal he backed out of. "It's strange actually because he wanted me to go on loan to Swindon and I said no," he says, referring to Oxford's bitterest rivals.
"I'm not from around here and I didn't know about the rivalry at the time, but I said, 'I'm not going there; no chance.' I don't know why, but I was just convinced I wasn't going to Swindon. I ended up going to Fleetwood for a while and we ended up getting beaten in the play-offs and there was a phase where I went on loan to Wigan and then I ended up here.
Oxford lost 5-0 at Bolton in March. It proved a turning point as they powered into the play-offs, having already beaten Peterborough United. "I'll never forget it," says Brannagan of Bolton's defeat. "I've never been so ashamed.
"I remember going home and if that doesn't put a fire in your stomach, I don't know what will. We just weren't good enough. There is no way around it."
It means that Oxford are undoubtedly not the favorites at Wembley. "You'd probably say that," Brannagan says. "If you get beat 5-0, you go in as an underdog. But we want to prove a point and I can't really put into words how big this is."
The Championship - with Oxford planning to move to a new £130m stadium before the start of the 2026-27 season - is the achievable dream. "One hundred percent, that's where I want to be. But I want to do it with this club," says Brannagan. "I want to take this club to the next level. Of course I want to play at the top. People may say, 'Oh, you should do this.' But it's my life and my career and I'll do what makes me happy."
And walk to Wembley? "I can not wait. I'm like a kid at Christmas," says Brannagan. "I'm a footballer and this is what you live for. These moments. There won't be a better feeling. You have the opportunity to go to that next level and that feeling: there is no better feeling in football. I've talked to guys who have had a lot of promotions and they say it's the best feeling you'll ever have.
"Things like what happened to me often come to mind and if it wasn't for the club I might not be playing football now. To be honest, I can't really repay this club. That's my opinion. I really can't do that." But he can try.
