Walsall captain Donervon Daniels is thankful for many things but nothing comes close to the ultimatum that saved not only his footballing dream - but also his life.
Born on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat, the 30-year-old is not afraid to look back on his troubled childhood. Forced to flee his home country due to the Soufrière Hills volcanic eruption, he moved over to the UK with his family at the age of three. And by Daniels’ own admission, his development in the heart of East London almost killed him.
“We leave Montserrat and go to East London when I'm really young and for a long period of time we didn't have a settled place," he says, speaking exclusively to Mirror Football. “East London now is so beautiful, so much more multicultural, built-up. A lot of money was put into the area.
"When I was growing up, it was underprivileged. There wasn't the best schools, the environment wasn’t child friendly and I found myself in a postcode gang.
“I lived in E5 so I represented E5. This wasn’t forced upon me. This was choice but this was choice because of my environment. Postcode wars is a thing that has always been a thing in London.
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“I am not glorifying it but it’s something that I partook in and ultimately something that ultimately nearly led to me losing my life. At 15, I got myself into a really unwise situation where it is E5 versus E8 fighting. I ended up getting stabbed in my back. It was two centimetres from my lung. I spent a long time in hospital.”
The devastating impact of Daniels’ injuries instantly became clear to him. His mum - who tragically passed away five years ago - spent time by her son’s bed side, often in tears.
It was then when his first club West Brom attempted to intervene. The Baggies offered Daniels accommodation and solace in the Midlands, something he believes allowed him to escape the horrors of gang warfare.
Daniels begun his career in the youth ranks of West Brom (Getty Images)
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“They basically give me an ultimatum saying ‘you either move up to Birmingham full-time and we put you in school, you’re going to be away from your family,’” Daniels reveals. “'This is an opportunity for you to be outside of the environment that has caused you harm, causing your mum stress.'
“I would say it changed my life. It started a new trajectory for me as an individual. It was very tough leaving home but it was even tougher to be in that position being in hospital because I’ve been stabbed and my mum is there crying. Thinking back, it was traumatic. I’m ever so grateful for West Brom. I genuinely believe I wouldn’t be the man I am today.
“The opportunity that they presented to me after knowing my situation, knowing the life I left but seeing potential in me and believing in my potential. Yeah, it saved my life. It gave me a second opportunity to get away from East London, which at the time was really bad to my health and bad for my career.
"They gave me the opportunity, it saved my life.”
Daniels is now a pivotal figure in the Walsall dressing room as they attempt to secure a place in the League Two play-offs. Should he help Walsall to promotion to League Two this term, it would represent the third promotion of his career, having twice helped Wigan to the League One title.
But for Daniels - who represented England at youth level - the highlight of his career remains his first full international camp with Montserrat at the age of 29. He recently captained his country in a CONCACAF Nations League win against the Dominican Republic, before scoring his first-ever international goal in a 4-2 victory against Barbados.
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“That was surreal. It’s up there with the best achievement in my career and that’s saying something. That day was just special. We played Dominican Republic and they have a really good team filled with energy, lightning quick, technical players. And nobody really expects little old Montserrat to go and achieve anything or beat anyone.
“We play with confidence, we just beat a team that was apparently far superior to us and we just play really, really well against Barbados. Obviously I get a goal from the set play. I do the Ronaldo sui celebration. My brain couldn’t even realise I was actually doing this.
"It was a special, special feeling and special moment and a special tour.”
Daniels could have played for the country of his birth long before, but "wasn't ready" to give up on his Three Lions dream. However, a number of chance meetings - and his mum’s wishes - eventually led to a change of heart.
“Throughout my whole time and even playing for England, my mum always used to say ‘I want you to play for Montserrat’.
“At this point Montserrat didn’t really have a fully established set-up. They were still going through the early stages of putting together the MFA [Montserratian Football Association] and finding players that can represent the country. But my mum was always going back to Montserrat on holidays in the summer. So she had a connection with one of the people that worked in the MFA. As I progressed in my career, I came across players that played for Montserrat."
Donervon Daniels celebrates his goal against Sutton United earlier this season (Getty Images)Daniels missed out on the latest international camp due to injury but returned after the break. He is now fully focused on Walsall's battle for promotion, with the Saddlers four points off the playoffs with two games in-hand.
"Obviously, we have aspirations to be out of this division come the end of it. But it's gonna be a tough challenge," he added. "We're going to take it one game at a time, one step at a time. It’s been good so far, but we ultimately want to achieve something special this year.
"And we can't start counting our chickens before the end."
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