Wealdstone midfielder Tom Hickey has undergone surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament after raising the money online to fund the surgery.

The 21-year-old, who joined the Stones in the summer from Hampton & Richmond Borough, suffered the injury in training in December but was facing a wait until May if he underwent the surgery on the National Health Service.

However, undergoing the surgery privately would set Hickey back £6,600, a fee non-league clubs quite simply cannot cover.

Hickey said: "The injury occurred at the start of December. I twisted awkwardly in training with no contact and heard a loud pop noise. The MRI scan showed a ruptured ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and a damaged LCL (lateral collateral ligament) on the outside of the knee, both of which needed to be fixed.

"I was fortunate the club paid for me to have a private MRI scan so I did not have to wait too long to find out what I had done.

"I was told, however, I would have to wait until May for an operation on the NHS so that would probably have resulted in me missing the majority of next season if not all of it [as I would face] nine to 12 months of rehabilitation."

However, Hickey was able to undergo surgery privately on Saturday whilst his team-mates were succumbing 3-1 to Weston-super-Mare, all thanks to the ingenuity of several close friends.

The midfielder explained: "A few of my best friends, Tom South and Rebecca Thomson, actually completely surprised me with the site to help raise funds. It's now raised £2,500 and I can't thank everyone enough, especially those two."

At the time of writing, Hickey's GoFundMe page has been open for nine days and a grand total of 46 donations have raised almost half of the cost of the personal trainer's surgery.

"I need to thank a lot of people. Everyone at Wealdstone, including staff and players for all their support, the fans, my friends and family, even complete strangers for all their kind donations. It means a lot and the support has been more than overwhelming."

Hickey is now hopeful of returning to action in four to five months, meaning he would be able to assist Gordon Bartlett's side as early as next season. However the Camberley-born midfielder's tale strikes a note of caution despite the happy ending.

"It is not realistic that a club in non league pay out £6,000-£8,000 for an operation and I'm sure very few clubs are covered in these circumstances," explained Hickey.

"After what I have been through, I would advise any player in the non league to make sure they are covered for all sorts of injuries regardless of level and age."

Hickey's GoFundMe page remains open here.