Brighton star Julio Enciso has revealed that he 'almost died' after fainting during a flight to Ecuador, with a fellow passenger stepping in to assist.

The 20-year-old footballer was travelling from the UK to South America to join the Paraguay national team ahead of their international fixtures against Ecuador and Venezuela.

Paraguay face Ecuador in Quito on Thursday, with Enciso disclosing that he felt 'powerless' after collapsing mid-flight.

"I had a headache. I almost died, I fainted on the plane," Enciso said, attempting to brush off the seriousness of the incident, as reported by Del Paraguay. "I was weak, I hadn’t eaten or slept well. At one point, I got up to go to the bathroom and felt as though I was falling."

Enciso shared that a fellow passenger helped him recover by offering him 'Coca-Cola and Japanese soup' to regain his strength.

"A man grabbed hold of me and took me to the front of the plane. He made me drink some Coca-Cola and a Japanese soup, which really helped," he added.

Enciso has already established himself as an important figure in the Paraguay national team, earning 19 senior caps.

The forward left Paraguay to join Brighton in a £9.5 million transfer in the summer of 2022 and has since emerged as one of the Premier League’s rising young stars under manager Roberto De Zerbi.

In his debut season in England, Enciso scored the Premier League Goal of the Season with a stunning long-range strike against Manchester City.

However, he missed the majority of the 2023-24 season after suffering a serious knee injury and sustained another setback while representing Paraguay at the Paris Olympics.

Now under Brighton’s new head coach, Fabian Hürzeler, Enciso has yet to start a Premier League match this season, but has come off the bench in five of their seven league games, while starting in Carabao Cup victories over Crawley Town and Wolves.