Hooray for Hudson after acupuncture guru saves career
GLOUCESTER full-back Tom Hudson aims to make the most of his second chance in rugby after defying medical opinion to stage a remarkable comeback.
Hudson’s electrifying displays have helped propel the Cherry & Whites into Premiership title contention. Two years ago, however, deep-seated groin problems had forced the former Leicester academy starlet to call time on his career at just 21.
Disillusioned, Hudson headed for Malaysia where a spell coaching at the Kuala Lumpur Tigers rekindled his love for the game before a chance meeting with an Asian acupuncture specialist brought an unlikely return to full fitness in 2016. Hudson, 23, told The Rugby
Paper: “My rugby career was over as far as the doctors at Leicester were concerned. I’d suffered the injury in 2013 and more than two years of intense treatment had failed to provide an answer.
“I can’t fault Leicester, they sent me to every practitioner locally and in London. They even sent me to see Doctor Hans Muller-Wohlfarht, the German football team doctor, but we could find no cure for my groin problem.
“To repay Tigers’ loyalty I accepted an invitation to coach with the KL Tigers. I’d met Richard Cockerill to decide my career was over and then suddenly there I was, passport in hand, not having a clue what was coming.”
Hudson’s life would take an unexpected twist, with the Mancunian explaining: “It was never a case of going away for a year, rehabilitating and coming back. In my mind my playing career was over and it was very much a case of moving to Plan B.
“I made a new life in Kuala Lumpur, fell in love with the place and I was helping to run the junior section of a really good club. But then I met one of the parents who said he knew a guy who could help with my injury and insisted I try.
“I’d tried everything in Western medicine and thought why not. He took me to see Master Chai, who specialised in unintrusive electromagnetic acupuncture. He worked on me every day for six months and suddenly I was gymming again.
“The treatment unblocked pressure in my damaged nerves and eventually my agent got me a trial with Gloucester. I can’t describe how much my life has changed in the last 18 months.”
Hudson has proved a revelation for Gloucester, scoring the winning try against Saracens recently and deputising admirably in the absence of Jason Woodward and Tom Marshall, although he admits there is a long way to go.
He added: “I’m still the No.3 fullback behind them but I’m really happy to be learning from them and filling their shoes as best I can.
“I’ve been learning my trade again, learning what it takes to be a professional and trying to take my opportunities in a Gloucester side that’s pretty well placed.”