The former Tooting & Mitcham player, who progressed through their youth ranks before he joined Reading in 2008, crashed his Ferrari in Epping and spent 45 minutes trapped inside as Essex County Fire & Rescue Service cut him out of his car.

West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer spent three weeks in hospital with a broken leg but is now targeting a playing return.

Speaking to BBC Morning Live, the 34-year-old said: “I shattered my femur bone in four different places. I had one single keyhole surgery. They put a pole in my thigh with four bolts, so screws and bolts to knit it back together.

“My first surgeon said he didn’t want me to put any weight on my leg for three months, which is around about now, and you can see that I am walking.

“We got a second specialist who said I needed to start putting weight on it, increasing from 10 per cent up to 100 per cent within three weeks. But I kept my crutches for a further two weeks. Overall, they say it will be between six to 12 months before my leg starts healing properly.”

Met Office had issued warnings for Storm Darragh on the day Antonio suffered his accident.

“The back of the car kept swinging out on me, so I didn’t feel safe,” he said. “I had (the car) for three weeks and I was already thinking about giving it back.”

The Jamaican international last featured for West Ham in a 3-1 defeat at Leicester on December 3.

“I will play again – 100 per cent,” he said.

“That’s what I am focused on and why I am working six days a week. I’ve always been positive from this situation. It’s a horrendous accident, and it’s a massive injury.

“It’s the biggest injury I’ve ever had in my career. But the fact that I’m already two to three months ahead of where I should be, I know that I’ll play again. I know that once I’m playing the game I’ll get the sharpness back.

“I was one of the quickest at West Ham. So my body wasn’t the body of a 34-year-old before I had the accident anyway. I can still be sharp and still do the business.

“People have always doubted me. My mental strength is something that I’ve always believed in and this is just another setback, and it is not going to stop me.”

He went to see his destroyed Ferrari at the scrapyard three weeks ago.

“The most difficult part is that I almost wasn’t there for my children,” said Antonio. “It’s just made me happy, positive about life, because I’ve got another chance at life.

“During this, we kept it away from the kids. My eldest saw it, and he struggled with it. He’s 13, and obviously people were showing photos of the car.

“So he came down and saw me in the hospital. But the younger ones, they never really knew how bad the situation was. We kind of avoided letting them get on the internet.”