The Herald (Zimbabwe)

B/ball player on the mend

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WELLINGTON. - A New Zealand Breakers basketball­er whose eyeball popped out mid-game said yesterday he “freaked out” at the gruesome injury but was relieved his sight was apparently unaffected.

“I could still see out of the eye even though it was kinda on the side of my face. . .it was a weird sensation,” forward Akil Mitchell said.

Mitchell was on the attack in an Australian NBL game against the Cairns Taipans in Auckland on Thursday night when he caught an accidental finger in the eye from an opposing player.

The US import fell to the floor writhing in agony and holding his hands to his left eye as horrified teammates tried to help.

“With the palm of my hand I felt my eyeball on the side of my face, which was when I knew this was worse than I (first) thought it was,” he told Radio Sport.

The 24-year-old heard a collective gasp from the crowd and said he “freaked out” believing he would lose sight in the eye and his career was over.

He told the radio station that while the injury was painful, the worst part was not being able to blink, making his fully functionin­g eyeball red and irritated.

“Once I got in the ambulance they gave me a little pain medicine and some saline drops in my eye and I felt it slide back into place, which is also a really strange feeling.”- AFP

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