The 35-year-old was warming up before PT Prachuap's Thai League 1 match at Pattani on Saturday when a pitch roller ploughed into him, pinning him underneath before team-mates helped lift it off. He escaped with only bumps and bruises and came off the bench as a second-half substitute in a 3-0 win.
Speaking on Piers Morgan's Football Uncensored on Monday night, Townsend gave his first detailed account of what happened: “I didn't see it coming. It was at halftime, we were going out to warm up. I saw two rollers on either side of the pitch.
“The next I saw him was when I was literally underneath him and thankfully no serious damage. A couple of bumps and bruises but managed to walk away unscathed, luckily.
“Every time I see it, I'm cringing, I'm in disbelief. When I sent it to my kids, my kids thought it was AI. Literally, I had to explain to them, for the next ten minutes, that it was real.”
He described the moment the machine was on top of him.
“It was quite heavy, but I was able to kind of lift it, force it off me. So when it was completely on me, I was getting crushed a little bit.
“But I was able to push it up, as you can see, as it falls on me, I was able to get my left arm up and relieve some of the pressure… and then I was able to get my team-mates around me who were able to lift it, and I was able to squeeze out but at that moment where it was crushing my left leg, it was quite terrifying, I must say.
“I was thinking I was done because it was my ankle, which I've had operated on. It was up my left knee, which I've had operated on. So I thought, either my left ankle was going to snap or my left knee is going to snap. I thought I was done. I was very fortunate that I was able to hobble away and recover within a few minutes.”
Footage of the collision went viral, and Townsend made light of it on his Instagram story, joking that Stoke away had never been this bad. His team-mates, he said, were stunned that he carried on.
“They were very surprised that I continued the warm up! They were telling me to go to the doctor. They were calling for the stretcher. But listen, I've been around the block, I've had my setbacks, I've had my injury issues. A roller is definitely not going to stop me from continuing, that's for sure, so I was able to carry on.”
The former Tottenham, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Everton winger joined PT Prachuap this summer, his 17th club, after a season with Kanchanaburi Power and a spell at Turkish side Antalyaspor. He worked as a co-commentator for ITV during this summer's World Cup.