Havili: It was really crazy
A hefty vertical scar stretches up to David Havili’s belly button, connecting with an older horizontal scar and creating a letter ‘‘T’’.
They’re forever proof of two stomach surgeries, the first when he was just six months old, followed by a second last month after the 25-year-old Crusaders utility back was struck down with stomach pain.
Speculation surfaced when the Crusaders confirmed he’d had emergency stomach surgery at Christchurch Hospital on March 6, with suggestions he’d had a foreign object removed.
However, almost five weeks since he had the operation, an upbeat Havili told Stuff the only thing removed was 20cm of his bowel, because he had a similar – but more serious – infection to the one he had as a child.
‘‘It was really crazy, man. It was pretty lucky that I bit the bullet and didn’t carry on a couple of days, because it certainly could have got a lot worse,’’ he said.
‘‘It [the infection] had leaked into my body through the bowel, that’s how the infection grew. They got in there and cut it out, and rejoined my bowel.’’
Still perhaps only halfway through his recovery, Havili has had ample time to re-live how quickly he went downhill before he was rushed into surgery.
Arguably the form Super Rugby player through the first four weeks of the season, Havili was told he was to have a wellearned break and would not be required to play against the Reds on March 6. But he continued to train, fronting at Rugby Park on the Monday despite ‘‘not feeling myself’’.
He woke up the following day and felt fine, so he trained Tuesday and Wednesday. During the segment of training open to media, he was spotted running freely and kicking a ball with team-mate Will Jordan.
‘‘It wasn’t until the captain’s run day [Thursday], I came in to do my last gym session and I was talking to him [Jordan] and I said, ‘s..., I don’t feel flash, I’ve got a bit of a store stomach’.’’
The pain started to absorb him, particularly when he touched the right-side of his stomach, promoting Havili to contact team doctor Martin Swan, who suspected he might have appendicitis.
But that was promptly ruled out when Havili called his mother and she advised he’d had his appendix removed when he was younger.
Before long Havili had developed a fever and was taken to Christchurch Hospital, where blood tests confirmed he had an infection in his bowel. Surgery could not wait.
‘‘The doctors came back in and said, ‘we have to get you in ASAP because if this infection spreads it could get a lot worse and we could potentially need to remove your whole bowel’,’’ Havili said.
Limited by what he could eat the first two weeks post surgery, Havili promptly shed a whopping 9kg, dropping from 96kg to 87kg in quick-time.
‘‘Probably the worst thing was just losing all the conditioning I had before. That was the frustrating thing. Looking at myself in the mirror and thinking, hell, I’ve lost some weight.
‘‘I could definitely tell through my legs and jaw line that I had lost a lot of weight.’’
He’s on a mission to get it back and has ordered a scale to check progress, given nobody in his isolation bubble, which includes his partner, and among others fellow Crusaders George Bridge and Quinten Strange, owns one.
Three weeks after surgery, he trained for the first time, albeit lightly, before he managed a jog around the block last week.
Strength and conditioning coach Simon Thomas has given him a programme and Havili has progressed to body weight squats and lunges, and upper body and shoulder weights.
Not taking into consideration the fact rugby is suspended indefinitely, Havili remains unsure just when he will be fully recovered and ready to pull the boots on. He’s content taking it lightly in fear of rupturing his wound, but noted his doctor’s notes indicated it would be nine or 10 weeks from surgery before he could train fully.
‘‘But then again, I lost all the weight, so I wouldn’t know.’’
Whenever it may be, Havili can count his lucky stars in the meantime.