Laman

20 Jan 2014

Top 10 freakest accidents in sport


Source: MSN Sport

Incident: Self-inflicted leg break
While broken legs (or, by extension, broken limbs) in sport may be accidentally caused by an opponent, rarely are such incidents self-inflicted. Kicking us off, literally, is mixed martial arts fighter Anderson Silva (yellow tights), who two Saturdays ago broke his leg on kicking Chris Weidman during their UFC middleweight championship bout. The impact of Silva's kick was so great that his leg immediately snapped, but more surprising was his delayed reaction due to the adrenaline high - in fact Silva had tried to stand on the broken leg after the kick, and only felt the pain moments later.
Currently undergoing physiotherapy, the 38-year-old said that despite the gruesome injury, he has no intention of retiring from MMA and has vowed to return to the octagon.


Incident: Swallowed tongue
Chelsea and former England captain John Terry was on the receiving end of an accidental kick in the face by Arsenal's Abou Diaby during the Blues' 2-1 win in the 2007 Carling Cup final. Terry swallowed his tongue, stopped breathing and suffered a concussion. He was treated for five minutes on the pitch, as medical staff forced his mouth open to release the tongue in a bid to prevent suffocation. Terry was then carried off on a stretcher, but surprisingly left the hospital a short while later and joined in the celebrations. He later revealed that he couldn't remember the incident and found himself waking up in the ambulance on the way to hospital.


 Incident: Popped-out eye
Gashes and bruises to the eye may be a common sight in martial arts sports. But to see a poked-out eye in basketball is something jaw-dropping. On 10 Mar 2006, college basketball player Allan Ray was poked in the right eye during the semi-final of the Big East Tournament between the Villanova Wildcats and Pittsburgh Panthers. Ray was appararently blind in the right eye for a period of time, as video footage showed that his eyeball had seemed to come loose from the socket. Most people thought that it was an extremely serious injury, but it turned out to be only soft tissue damage. Ray, who was also a one-time Boston Celtics player in the NBA, was able to play less than a week later in the NCAA tournament.

Incident: Slit throat
Fans watching the NHL match between the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues on 22 Mar 1989 witnessed a scene straight out of a horror-gore movie. The Sabres goaltender, Clint Malarchuk, had his neck slashed by an opponent's skate, which sliced open his carotid artery and jugular vein, causing blood to gush out onto the ice. Malarchuck was brought within minutes of death, as he clutched his throat in a bid to prevent more blood from spewing out. The bleeding was controlled by the team's doctor who took over Malarchuck's care as he was rushed by ambulance to the Buffalo General Hospital for surgery.
Malarchuk had been a Sabre for only 16 days when his life almost ended. Today the 52-year-old is an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames.


Incident: Baseball hits face
Continuing our list of unfortunate incidents is one that's even rarer than a home run in baseball. On 8 Sep 2000, Boston Red Sox pitcher Bryce Florie was hit in the face by a baseball, following a line drive from New York Yankees' Ryan Thompson. The injury left Florie with multiple facial injuries, including a fractured cheekbone and orbital socket, as well as a damaged retina. The ball was hit with such force that Florie had no time to block it with his glove, as he fell face down and kicked his legs up and down in pain. He was shortly taken off the field to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.


Incident: Dislocated elbow
Be it technique or ambitiousness, dislocated shoulders can be a common injury in weightlifting. However, on 13 Aug 2008, the world grimaced along with Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was trying to snatch 148kg in his third lift during the men's 77kg division, when his elbow popped out of its socket. His right forearm bent backwards when it was no longer able to support the weight of the barbell. Baranyai fell to the ground, shaking and crying out in pain. He also suffered a bruised back, as the barbell landed on him.
In a 2012 interview, Imre Dobos, president of the Hungarian Weightlifting Federation, said that an elbow dislocation was very rare among professional weighlifters.


Incident: Three-ligament tear in same knee
Tearing one of the four ligaments holding our knee in place would have sent a grown man into tears. For Los Angeles Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston, the pain probably tripled when he tore three ligaments in his left knee during a match against the Charlotte Bobcats on 26 Feb 2007. Livingston was put out of action for almost a year. To add agony to the injury, he had also dislocated his patella.
Livingston had gone for a layup when his left knee contorted. Clippers team doctor Tony Daly had to pop his knee back into place to lessen the pain and said that it was a 'freak accident' - a case he had never seen before in his 24 years of practice.


Incident: Heart attack
One of the scariest sights has to be seeing someone die before your eyes. On 17 Mar 2012, thousands of fans watched in horror as Bolton's Fabrice Muamba suddenly collapsed onto the pitch as his side took on Tottenham in an FA Cup quarter-final tie. Upon inspection by medical staff, it was found that Muamba's heart had stopped beating. It took a total of six medics from both teams and 15 shocks from a defibrillator, along with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, to get his heart started. It was later revealed that the then-23-year-old had suffered a heart attack.
The referee, along with the players, were visibly shaken and the match was called off. Muamba's incident triggered a nationwide flood of well-wishes and prompted studies into the over-exertion of footballers' bodies in a gruelling calendar. Today, Muamba has recovered from the incident but retired from football and is currently pursuing a career in sports journalism.


Incident: Allowing someone to break your arm
We thought the award for having the highest threshold of pain should be awarded to our dear mothers for birthing us - but we thought wrong. On 27 Aug 2000, during the main-event bout of Pride Fighting Championships, mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie refused to surrender to opponent Kazushi Sakuraba despite breaking his own arm. Sakuraba had caught Gracie in a kimura lock and spun around, wrenching the latter's arm behind his back as they fell to the ground together. Television replays showed that Gracie's elbow had already snapped prior to hitting the ground, but he refused to tap out as Sakuraba applied more pressure on the arm. Even after the referee stopped the fight, not a wince was seen on Gracie's face.
Many believe Renzo's doggedness was because he wanted to uphold his Gracie family's great name.


Incident: Accidental brain trauma
The freshest incident of a sporting-related brain trauma has to belong to the great Michael Schumacher, taking place just 10 days ago. The seven-time Formula One world champion was skiing at a French resort with his 14-year-old son and others between two marked runs when he fell and hit his head against a rock. Schumacher suffered multiple head injuries and is currently in a state of medically-induced coma. After two operations to remove blood clots in his brain and reduce swelling, the 45-year-old German continues to fight for his life.