Fatialofa felled by staph infection
‘‘I was that one,’’ Michael Fatialofa said, gravely.
You don’t want to be too melodramatic here, but there was a period a year ago when the Hurricanes lock might not have walked again. Let alone resumed a Super Rugby career.
Fatialofa dislocated his right knee during the team’s 26-20 win over the Blues at Eden Park.
‘‘It was meant to be minor surgery, out of the game for six weeks. But I had complications.’’
A serious staphylococcus infection took hold and six weeks turned into 10 months.
‘‘They say it can happen to one in a thousand. And I was that one.’’
There was ‘‘a lot of finger pointing, a lot of medical stuff’’ but not a lot of getting better. In fact, things actually got worse for a while.
‘‘I had a six-week course of antibiotics to flush it out, two clean-up flush-out surgeries. It was a bit touch and go there for a bit.’’
It certainly helped butcher Fatialofa’s Hurricanes career. The last player selected by the team for the 2016 season, the now 25-year-old was a revelation. No-one expected him to play a game, but he damn near played every minute of every match as the Hurricanes won their maiden Super Rugby title.
Fatialofa’s performances were magnificent and he underlined his ironman status by, reportedly, being the last man standing when the team’s victory celebrations finally came to an end.
Tonight, , against the Sharks at Napier’s Mclean Park, he’ll start his first game for the Hurricanes since that April 15 clash with the Blues last year. Sadly, there won’t be too many more games for the franchise, with Fatialofa having signed a two-year deal with English club Worcester.
‘‘It [the knee injury] wasn’t the main reason [but] it certainly did contribute to me making that decision,’’ said Fatialofa.
‘‘It was the toughest thing I’ve had to go through in my career. I’ve had surgery and stuff [before] but that messed with my mind a bit. It was tough times.’’
Travel was one of the few things that kept Fatialofa going through his convalescence. He couldn’t train for six months and was grateful the doctors allowed him to jet off to London and Bali for some ‘‘soul searching’’ and to keep his ‘‘head space positive’’.
But there’s nothing like being well again.
‘‘I’m appreciating stuff I took for granted. Just walking. I was quite excited to jog again.’’