Premier League footballer Taiwo Awoniyi has shared how his Christian faith sustained him through a major injury, and how a gospel song by Nathaniel Bassey played a surprise role while he was in an induced coma.
Awoniyi suffered a ruptured intestine after colliding with a goalpost while playing for Nottingham Forest in May 2025. The Nigerian international needed emergency abdominal surgery and was placed in a coma for three days.
Speaking with CNN, the striker who now plays for Coventry City said: “It was an incident that showed me who I believe in. He is as powerful as I trust him to be, my God. He is the one that saved me that night, that is my belief, of course with the help of the medical team.”
Although Awoniyi does not remember it, family members said while laying in the hospital bed he gestured to write something down. He then wrote the name of a Nigerian gospel song by Nathaniel Bassey, which he then nodded his head along to when played.
“That’s what said a lot about my faith and how much I trust God,” the 29 year-old said.
At the time, family said they were continually praying for him and expressed belief that God would strengthen him to overcome the injury.
CNN interviewer Darren Lewis asked if that experience has influenced his willingness to share his faith on the pitch, to which Awoniyi agreed.
He added that it also came from his childhood: “From my dad, my mum, my family. From an early stage, we used to go to church a lot. I try to do the best I can. I’m not perfect. In his way, I try to follow what I read [in the Bible], and I believe that has helped me so much.”
He also shared how he valued being responsible, disciplined and doing the right thing “as my dad used to say, ‘faith without work is dead’”, a principle from James 2:14-26.
Awoniyi was speaking at the Best of Africa Awards, where he won the ‘Beyond the Pitch’ award on Wednesday for his backing of grassroots football in Kwara State, Nigeria.
In a 3-1 win over Sunderland on Saturday, he celebrated scoring by showing the camera his shinpads with crosses, popularised by football ministry Ballers in God. He has previously displayed Bible verses on his shirt.