5 players who hit their peak after suffering a career-threatening injury

#1 Petr Cech

Petr Cech was completely knocked out after the collision at Reading

Petr Cech's return to football to enjoy a long and distinguished career as one of Europe's finest is one of the most courageous stories in modern football history. After moving to Chelsea in January of 2004, Cech became the first-choice keeper at the club soon after and won the league in the same season.

In the following season, Chelsea won the league once again and Cech was adjudged the world's finest goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Chelsea had conceded only 22 goals in the 2005-06 season and Cech had a big part to play in it.

However, in October 2006 Cech suffered one of the most horrible injuries seen in modern football when in the early stages in a Premier League game against Reading, Cech's skull was fractured after he collided at full tilt with Reading's Stephen Hunt.

A brain injury could have actually paralysed him and the surgeons who performed the emergency surgeries later stated that it was a life-threatening injury. Cech was actually fortunate to still be alive and that is what makes his return to professional football within just three months even more remarkable.

He went on to win many more medals for Chelsea and reached his peak as a goalkeeper over the next nine years. Cech's outstanding goalkeeping was a big factor in Chelsea winning the UEFA Champions League in 2012, and he is still playing regularly with Arsenal, with whom he won the FA Cup last season.