Category: Rugby league

St Helens’ Matty Smith: ‘The doctors told me I was lucky not to lose my sight’ | Aaron Bower

The scrum-half’s Super League club are in the play-offs but he is just happy to be playing again after a poke in the eye left him sitting in the changing room with ‘people trying to do all sorts to stem the blood’

As the doctors hurried around Matty Smith and the ambulance was being prepared to take him to Leeds General infirmary, what at first seemed like a minor moment of frustration quickly transformed into a potentially life-changing situation. Rugby players are renowned for being tough and, thankfully, Smith is now able to raise a smile when he is reminded that what was nothing more than a stray poke in the eye from a St Helens team-mate almost cost him much more than a few weeks on the sidelines.

A little over four weeks ago, Smith was hit with a stray hand from Jon Wilkin during a game against Leeds. At first it seemed innocuous enough but the severity of the situation became apparent quickly as blood began to pour from his left eye. “At the time, I wasn’t sure the eyeball was still in the socket,” Smith says with a grin on his face.

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