The captain of the Catalan Dragons Super League team could line up for the side just a week after he nearly lost his ear in a tackle.
Ben Garcia was rushed straight to hospital after his ear was left partially severed after making a tackle in the first half against the Warrington Wolves in the Super League’s ‘magic round’ in Newcastle on Sunday.
Speaking to The Telegraph UK, Garcia said his ear got “locked against the Warrington player’s hips” while making a low tackle.
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“I had torn all the skin and cartilage so my right ear was not attached anymore,” he said.
“Therefore I took it back with my hand and asked the physio to come on before I went off. It was more a feeling of shock than actual pain – it was a bizarre sensation.”
The 29-year-old Frenchman was seen by the club doctor in the dressing room, who cleaned the injury and sent him to hospital, where he underwent emergency plastic surgery.
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“First of all, I had five or 10 stitches just for my cartilage to reattach my ear and then I had to have all the stiches to my skin, so it was 20 stitches in total,” he said.
Garcia said his hearing was fine, and he hoped to line up in the Dragon’s next match on Sunday.
“But in terms of my hearing and the function of my ear, everything is good.”
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