Injured player to visit home
Injured Feilding High School rugby player Jacob Fifita-tovo will return home, albeit for a short period.
The Feilding third XV player was injured in a tackle during a game against Napier Boys’ High School in Feilding in July and was taken by helicopter to Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital, where he has been receiving treatment in the spinal unit.
He has been in hospital since, but his parents
Lucy and
Mario, who are with him in Christchurch, said in a statement
Jacob would be transferred home on Thursday, then go back to Burwood in a fortnight’s time.
‘‘He must keep his [Aspen] collar on. He has an incomplete spinal cord injury.’’ In three months they will reassess and Jacob may need surgery.
‘‘There is no quick easy answer. [We] need to be patient.’’
The year 11 student was last month put into an Aspen collar, which keeps his neck area still, and he could sit up in bed, rather than lying flat all the time.
Meanwhile, Jacob’s third XV team-mates helped raise about $3500 for the family’s costs from being away from home.
The team organised a hangi fundraiser on Saturday and sold more than 400 tickets.
Coach Leigh Martin said they had a lot of support from the community for the event.
‘‘The amount of people that helped is amazing,’’ he said.
Feilding and District Promotion allowed them to use the Civic Centre kitchens and APB Electrical gave them free use of a chiller. The team had been devastated by the injury because they were all so close, but they were all keen to help the family.
‘‘[The fundraiser] will help them with a lot of the costs they are facing,’’ Martin said.