Looking After Their Own

In every sport people will get injured. Some are minor, and some are very serious, luckily the serious injuries are rare in most sports.

There have been over the years clubs who have seen a player merely as a commodity, and when he/she has suffered a serious injury have been quick to encourage them to retire so that they cease to be a part of that organisation, and are no longer on their books. The good news is in most sports that attitude is changing.

It was therefore really pleasing to read this week of two organisations doing the right thing, the almost expected thing, for two athletes who have had the misfortune to suffer a major injury.

First was the news that the National Rugby League (NRL) had a “job for Life” for Newcastle Knights player Alex McKinnon, who broke his neck in a game.

A special foundation has been set up to raise funds for McKinnon and on the 18th of July one round will be focussed on him and called “Rise for Alex.” This will be a fundraising round to try and raise as much money for McKinnon with the television stations, radio stations and all NRL clubs coming on board.  The Newcastle Knights also confirmed that he had a job in the game for as long as he wishes. The NRL also stated that they would look to help McKinnon plan a career path once he is out of hospital, and will be there to assist as well as offer financial aid.

The injury to McKinnon has also made the NRL according to CEO Dave Smith look at establishing a game-wide foundation “to provide financial assistance to players who are severely and permanently injured in Rugby League.” This is a responsible move by the NRL and one to be applauded and hopefully copied by other sports.

The World Boxing Council is another organisation that has had a similar fund set up for a number of years. It was a foundation set up by former president Jose Sulaiman and allows boxers who need financial assistance to apply on an annual basis and boxers receive quarterly payments to offset medical expenses or other costs to enable them to live as normal a life as possible.

One boxer who is currently benefitting from this program is former WBC super featherweight champion Frida Walllberg who in june last year after being undefeated in eleven professional fights was defending her title against Australian Diana Prazak in Stockholm. Wallberg was ahead on points but was caught by a heavy right hook in the seventh round. She rose to her feet and continued. Was knocked down in the eighth round once and rose again but when she went down a second time the referee stopped the fight.

She walked back to her corner where she was met by the ringside doctor. It was the awareness of former champion Lucia Rijker who was in Wallberg’s corner who saw signs of physical distress and called the doctor back. She left the ring on a stretcher and then started the long road back after suffering a life threatening brain injury. Ironically the injury is believed not to have been the result of the right hook, but an accidental clash of heads in round four.

Wallberg says she still has headaches and has a problem with concentration and some memory issues. However she has a team of doctors working with her and giving her exercises to help her memory and concentration improve.

The mother of one was interviewed recently on television and was predictably asked about the safety of boxing. Which she stated is not a question put to many male boxers who are also parents, or that women work in many other high risk occupations. “It was a loaded question, but I was prepared because its not that often you see a mom in the ring as a champion. There are a lot of people who don’t agree pro boxing should exist in Sweden, especially women’s boxing, but that has started to change.” she said. “Boxing has made me the person Iam. I have down boxing since I was twelve years old. It has given me so many good memories and I have a lot of things to thank boxing for.”

No athlete that makes it to the top and who entertains all of us fans ever thinks they will be the ones who will be seriously hurt. Some unfortunately are injured and seriously. It is however the responsible attitudes of organisations such as the NRL and the WBC that make sure when these rare occurrences happen that they look after one of their own. Long may that continue and the funds for these athletes grow bigger.