I found out I had broken my neck playing rugby and couldn’t afford the surgery, so I left the hospital and put faith in my body.
2020 was a year of change for many. It will go down in history as the year of the Pandemic. But for me, life was turned upside down even before the lockdowns.
In January 2020, I broke my neck playing rugby in Dubai and didn’t know it for 7 weeks. On a hot and sunny Friday afternoon, I lined my opponent up and prepared myself to make a tackle. Aiming to wrap my arms around my opponent’s legs, cushion my head on his bum, and take him to the ground, I misjudged the speed he was running.
His thigh connected with my face while he was running at full speed and the next thing we both knew was being laid out on the grass looking up at the blue sky. I gradually picked myself up and stumbled to the touchline as the final whistle went for the end of the game. My head and neck were frozen, like I’d done a really hard gym session and pulled all the muscles.
Showering was tough. The 40-minute drive home was even tougher because I couldn’t move my head. I had to flick my eyes from side to side to look in the mirrors. I took it slowly and stayed in the inside line away from all the speeding cars.
Sleeping was also tough. Finding a comfortable position when you can’t move your head is not easy. The next day, I went to the store and bought a soft collar to support my head and neck and started on the pain meds.
Later in the week, I went to see the physio. The club I was playing for had an agreement with a physio so that we could drop in and get assessed or worked on. This process continued for 7 weeks until finally, the physio suggested I get some scans of my head and neck.
By that time, the pain had subsided, but I still couldn’t move my head or neck properly, so I was constantly wearing the soft collar, even to sleep in.
When I walked into the consultant’s office after getting some scans, he sat me down and told me that I had broken my C5-C6 vertebrae, which are at the bottom of the neck. He wanted to do 3-6 hours of surgery to put a plate and screws into my neck. I remember mentally shutting down as he described the procedure and how they would go in from the front and then roll me over and go in from the back to make sure the plate and screws were all in place.
I immediately knew I didn’t want the surgery. It sounded horrendous. And even if I did want it, I couldn’t afford it. I thanked the consultant for his time, walked out of the hospital, and put my faith in my body.
Then the lockdowns happened.
At the time, my business relied heavily on events and managing them for clients.
Suddenly, potential projects disappeared, and existing clients paused their projects because of the uncertainty. I struggled to keep my business going, and for the next 8 months, I took whatever small projects I could get while simultaneously hoping my neck was healing.
Eighteen months after the injury, I went to get another set of scans with a different consultant. I was referred in by a specialist sports physio who had experience working with the South African national rugby team. When I walked into the consultant’s office after having my scans, he had a look of disbelief on his face. He told me that he’d done some research about my case but had only been able to find examples of people waiting 3 weeks and then having surgery. He couldn’t find anything where a patient with my type of break had opted against surgery.
He also showed me the results of the scans. My body had grown new bone around the break in my vertebrae, and the consultant was amazed that I had a full range of movement in my neck and a level of strength as if nothing had happened.
Since getting those second set of scans, I’ve been more at peace with the whole experience of my neck and recognise that our bodies are amazingly powerful. With the right support and mental attitude, we can heal.
I’ve also begun to rebuild my business in a way that enables me to contribute and have more impact. This includes writing two books. My first book, titled ‘Watch Us Play,’ explores strategies for managing children’s screen time and how to improve maths skills using the power of video games. My second book, ‘Finally Find Freedom,’ helps readers uncover life’s 12 hidden chains that hold us back and the steps to break them.
I had to be resilient to get through 2020/21, but now I believe the universe has a plan. Without this challenging experience, I wouldn’t have written these books or made other changes in my life.
Having already said no to surgery for a broken ankle, I put faith in my body and that it could heal my broken neck.
We may experience ups and downs, and those experiences are what shape us, but those moments don’t have to hold us back. We can change the meaning we give to a situation or experience. We have great power inside us, and we can choose whether to use it. It all starts with us.
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