West Ham forward Michail Antonio offers harrowing insight into his childhood: 'A couple of my friends were stabbed to death... I've seen it all'
- Michail Antonio grew up in South London surrounded by gang culture
- The winger witnessed stabbings and shootings which all seemed normal to him
- He went a different route and worked hard at his football to progress
- The 27-year-old is now reaping the rewards and is a key man at West Ham
Michail Antonio has come a long way since his upbringing in South London.
The West Ham winger was raised in Earlsfield and witnessed events few others could even imagine.
Antonio went via Tooting and Mitcham United, Reading, Sheffield Wednesday and and Nottingham Forest before hitting the big time at West Ham — a far cry from his childhood surrounded by gang culture.
West Ham winger Michail Antonio grew up in South London surrounded by gang culture
The winger witnessed stabbings and shootings which all seemed normal to him at the time
'A couple of my friends were stabbed to death, a couple were shot but didn't die,' he told The Sun. 'I've seen someone get stabbed. I've seen it all.
'It gets crazy. But when I was younger, it was the norm.
'You heard that someone got stabbed and the reaction would be, "Okay, he got stabbed", then you would walk off.
'It wasn't a massive shock, you would ask if he was okay, then it would be no problem — that was the conversation.'
The 27-year-old has gone from strength to strength since joining the Irons in 2015 — culminating in an England call-up last March.
But the 27-year-old has gone a different path and is now enjoying life at West Ham
He produced an impressive display in West Ham's 2-0 victory over Huddersfield in the Premier League on Monday - the club's first victory of the season.
They are back in action on Saturday against West Brom.
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