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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
Incident: Popped-out eye
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.
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.
