Medical advances can save an athlete’s career

Arthur Choga

MEDICAL advances have significantly improved the management of sports injuries and related health issues.

Sporting activities have their share of health-related challenges.

At the top of that list are injuries, although, lately, the issue of sportspersons’ mental health has come to the fore in a big way.

Many a sporting fan may remember times when a sporting star suffered an injury that put their career in serious jeopardy, or even ended it.

Some players like Zimbabwean footballer Samson Choruwa suffered injuries that ended their careers at a time when they literally had the world at their feet.

Other local football players, like Siza Khoza, have bounced back and continued to play, even though they may have lost some of their pace.

Legends, like Johannes Ngodzo and Desmond Maringwa, bravely battled back from injuries and tried to continue playing, but their bodies eventually made it clear they could not continue.

In 1999, Swedish football player Henrik Larsson suffered a career-threatening injury, breaking his leg in two places in a challenge.

He would spend eight months on the sidelines.

Larsson returned to football and would go on to play for Manchester United and Barcelona, winning the UEFA Champions League with the latter.

Locally, CAPS United legend Alois Bunjira suffered a terrible leg break in 1996, which ended his season.

But, after an eight-month layoff, which included intense treatment and rehabilitation, he would return to the field to become the top goal scorer in the league and lay the foundation for his eventual transfer to South Africa.

First, he joined QwaQwa (later Free State) Stars before moving to Wits University (later Bidvest Wits), where he would establish himself as a legend.

Bunjira’s case is a rare celebration of a career that continued after looking like it was over.

In 2004, French striker Djibril Cisse suffered a horrific leg injury while playing for Liverpool against Blackburn Rovers.

Pictures of the injury clearly showed the leg snapped into an unnatural angle after his boot got caught in the turf.

Cisse credits the medical team that attended to him immediately after the injury, according to an interview he gave to the BBC.

“I had a fracture and the bone snapped and came on top of the other. My blood circulation was not working and reaching my foot.

“The doctor said to me ‘I’m going to have to reduce the fracture’. I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I just said ‘do what you’ve got to do’. He counted to three and pulled my leg.”

There are many other examples of players who have suffered terrible injuries to return to the field of play.

As a nation, we need to learn from the way medicine has advanced over the last decade, from clubs having a first aider on the bench with a bucket of ice water, a few bandages and some glucose in a first aid kit.

It was a role sometimes given to players who could not make the team.

However, advances in the treatment of sportspersons have led to the creation of a specialised field of medicine.

Locally, we have seen teams with certified practitioners on their benches, signalling a positive level of progress.

Sports medicine is described variously as a discipline that deals with physical fitness, as well as the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise.

The growth of sports medicine has seen the emergence of several medical specialists, with both a keen interest in sports and a sharp ability to undertake the delicate and specialised procedures that would allow an athlete to continue to play after the injury.

These dedicated specialists can take the lead, in conjunction with sporting associations, to ensure that whatever injury a player suffers, they stand a fighting chance of being able to continue with their career.

Research has shown that the first response at pitch side has a major impact on the outcome of the treatment, as shown in the Cisse case.

The skills to grow this specialist base would help prolong careers and reduce the number of players limping along with shattered dreams.

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