A footballer is tonight fighting for his life after sustaining a suspected fractured skull during a First Division football match at White Hill Field earlier today.

Somerset Eagles goalkeeper Gabriel Wilkinson, believed to be in his mid-20s, was struck in the head in a collision with an Ireland Rangers player early in the match and was rushed away by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The match was abandoned following the freak accident which has left the Eagles goalie, son of former May 24 Bermuda Marathon Derby runner Gary Wilkinson, in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

It is now understood Wilkinson, a physical education teacher at Berkeley Institute and a former track and field athlete, is awaiting to be airlifted to Boston to seek further medical attention for an injury Somerset Bridge Recreation Club president Marc Bean has described as “serious and critical”.

“From what I have been told Gabriel is in very serious condition in ICU and his family is trying to have him airlifted to a hosital somewhere in Boston,” Bean told The Royal Gazette.

The PLP senator was among those who witnessed the nasty collision. “Ireland Rangers were attacking down their left side and somehow the ball came across the box and Gabriel came out and tried to collect it,” Bean recalled. “The ball was going across the box and when he (Wilkinson) came out to collect it down low he was struck in the temple by the knee of an Ireland Rangers player.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Gabriel and his family at this moment. You never expect these things to coccur in sport, but there are risks in all sports. This accident definitely wasn’t intentional and we just hope he (Wilkinson) has a full and speedy recovery.”