Savea’s actions tick off doc
Stay off Tik Tok.
That’s the medical advice Ardie Savea has been given by his doctor as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
The 26-year-old Hurricanes and All Blacks star underwent surgery in December and has been working through the rehabilitation process.
During that time he has been active on social media, often posting short dance videos on Tik Tok – a short-form mobile video platform.
But that caught the attention of his doctor, who warned him against such movements.
‘‘I’ve been doing Tik Toks lately and they require dance moves. I went in to work the other day and the doc told me off,’’ he said in response to a question at yesterday’s Super Rugby launch about if he had had to hold himself back during his injury rehab.
‘‘Just doing stuff like that and walking down the stairs, sometimes you feel really confident, but then it catches a little bit, so I just need to be careful.’’
In a way though, the Tik Toks and social media have helped Savea work through a challenging time mentally, which he opened up about yesterday.
‘‘Before I got the injury, I thought I would be OK if I got a major injury because I’ve got a lot going on off the field, but I actually really struggled.
‘‘Something I learned during that journey is I like to be active, I like to go out for walks, and not being able to do that for four or five weeks was quite tough mentally.
‘‘Once I started to be able to walk, I started to find I was feeling better and the right mental space.
‘‘It’s been like a learning for me and a reset too, to be able to chill out and be with my family more. My daughter is growing up too fast.’’
Savea is booked in to see his surgeon today for an update on his recovery before he heads away on holiday.
‘‘Hopefully he can say I can do a bit more weight on the knee and a few more things, but I’m not expecting anything, I just know it’s feeling better each day, so that’s a positive.’’