’I FELT SCARED’: TEARY FIFITA
ANDREW Fifita woke from an induced coma and instantly his eyes began darting across the ICU ward of the Royal Brisbane Hospital.
“Where’s my wife (Nikki)?’’ the Sharks NRL star asked the doctors leaning over him.
“It’s been an hour and she said she was only five minutes away.’’
The doctor placed a gentle hand on Fifita’s shoulder and said: “You know it’s Friday?”
“You’ve been in hospital in a coma for five days.’’
Eight days after suffering a fractured larynx, and three days after emerging from his coma, an emotional Fifita has spoken about the “toughest fight of his life”.
It is the former Australian and Tongan Test prop’s first interview since being rushed to hospital, unable to breathe from a hit to the throat he suffered during the Sharks’ loss to Newcastle at Redcliffe on Sunday, August 15.
“I’ve been through a lot of trauma,’’ Fifita says through tears. “I’ve felt scared. I’ve been an athlete at the highest level, but now I have to rebuild myself.
“I have learned how to talk again, walk again, but I can only walk 20 metres down the hallway because they’re (nurses) worried I’ll collapse.
“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever been through, to place this stress and pressure on Nikki and the kids, I feel like I’m a failure.
“I only brought the kids here (hospital) for the first time on Sunday because I don’t want them to see me like this. It’s too scary for them.
“They were here and I sat on a chair and just cried, telling them, ‘it’s OK guys, it’s Dad, I’m OK’. I know I’m improving every day and that’s what I need to be mindful of.’’
With Nikki by his side, Fifita tried to watch the Sharks’ win over Wests Tigers last week.
“I turned it off a few minutes into the game and I cried – I just couldn’t watch it,’’ Fifita said.
He feels indebted to his club, the love and support of Nikki and his family, but so too the Sharks and the outpouring from the league community.