A young footballer in hospital fighting for his life after an horrific on-field accident last week credits much of his recovery to Sharks star Andrew Fifita.
Harley Dimech from the Kincumber Colts U16s suffered a broken trachea – an injury very similar to the one that saw Fifita in a critical condition last season – nine days ago.
Remarkably, the youngster finished the game but was rushed to hospital after being unable to breathe later that night.
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Doctors were concerned for his life and were considering emergency surgery but after viewing x-rays and scans, decided to see if the trachea would heal itself.
Harley was told he may never play again and was shattered – until a Facetime call from Fifita changed all that.
“Someone reached out to Andrew and asked him if he would do a little video message for Harley,” his mum Tracey told Wide World of Sports.
“But he did much more – on game day he called Harley and told him about his experience with the injury and how he was able to overcome the mental and physical demons in time.
“Andrew asked if he will play again. Harley said of course and Andrew just laughed and said ‘Good on you’.
“Andrew told him to concentrate on breath work, on meditation, on getting yourself right.
“He also was saying that he had scar tissue around his neck, it can restrict movement so you have to be really careful in your recovery.
“After the call, Harley cried tears of joy – and he is determined to play footy again.
“We will have to wait and see because the doctors said he was lucky to be alive because of the lack of oxygen and the infection that resulted from it.
“But he is slowly on the mend now – he is out of hospital and back home and we can’t thank Andrew enough.”
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