Defender in damage control
UFC, motocross, rugby league ... they’re brutal sports on the body right? Well you can add football to that list. Just ask Nathan Carr. After six broken arms and two broken legs in his fledgling football career, you can imagine what it means for the him to walk on to Barlow Park tonight against Gold Coast United. “With football, people say it’s not a contact sport, but let’s be realistic, it really is,” the 17year-old Cairns FC defender said.
UFC, motocross, and rugby league are brutal on the body – but now add football to that list. Just ask Cairns FC defender Nathan Carr.
After six broken arms and two broken legs in his fledgling football career, you can imagine what it means for him to walk on to Barlow Park tonight against Gold Coast United.
The 17-year-old was ready to give up 12 months ago after a “freak accident” you might associate with a more “high intensity” sport.
But Carr has much more fortitude than most to brush off “a few hard knocks”.
“With football, people say it’s not a contact sport, but let’s be realistic – it really is,” he said. “There’s a lot of freak accidents in football.
“A motocross rider might come off a bike at 100km/h and do serious damage to themselves, but in football a little ankle roll at full sprint can put you out for six months.
“Ten minutes into the first game of the Gold Coast Cup, I was at full sprint chasing a ball down, came into an awkward position with another player, fell on my arm with the other player falling on top of me, he fell on my arm as well and essentially it snapped my bones like celery sticks.
“I had to have a ‘closed re- duction’ first to try to bend it back into place.
“That didn’t work, so they had to do an operation and I have two plates, 14 screws and was in hospital for three days and had six months out of football.
“It’s horrible having to get up and take painkillers every day just to be able to move.
“But it is just about focusing on those baby steps to get back to where you are.”
Carr struggled with the concept of being without control over the situation, unlike his skill with the ball at his feet.
“It’s definitely demoralising and it is by far the hardest thing to accept,” he said.
“If you’re not good enough as a player, you can accept that and work on what you need to work on to improve, but whenever you get injured as a player, it is totally out of your control.”
With the help of physios, doctors and parents, Carr is back in control, but he never imagined it would turn into an NPL debut.
“Thinking of where I was last year and where I thought I’d be now, it’s a totally different story,” he said.
“This time last year, six months after the operation, I was barely back to running.
“I genuinely thought that was it for football for me, but I’ve had such an amazing team behind me to help me get through it. “I guess you never know. “After the injury ... I tried as hard as I could every day and now I’m where I am, I just need to keep pushing.”
IT’S HORRIBLE HAVING TO GET UP AND TAKE PAINKILLERS EVERY DAY JUST TO BE ABLE TO MOVE. BUT IT IS JUST ABOUT FOCUSING ON THOSE BABY STEPS TO GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ARE CAIRNS FC DEFENDER NATHAN CARR