Durban — A year after a Dale College rugby player died because of a rugby injury, another schoolboy is fighting for his life after taking a head knock in a game.
A 17-year-old Paarl Boys’ High School player Chris Jordaan is in ICU following a head injury he suffered playing against Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) at a rugby festival in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Jordaan was rushed to the hospital and had immediate surgery after suffering bleeding to the brain.
According to the pupil’s father, Chris Jordaan senior, the No 8 suffered whiplash after being tackled and his head hit the ground with unusual force.
He was then taken to Muelmed Hospital after being quickly attended to by the Paarl Boys’ travelling medical team. They performed first aid and the youngster was then rushed to the hospital and underwent a four-and-a-half-hour operation to alleviate the bleeding.
Jordaan has not regained consciousness but is in a stable condition.
“He had bleeding on the brain and took quite a serious knock,” the school’s First XV rugby coach, Sean Erasmus, said.
“He is in a stable condition but hasn’t woken up since the incident and we are very concerned.
“We have watched the video and everything suggests it was a freak accident. It doesn’t look like anything malicious. It wasn’t head-to-head contact or anything like that at all.
“Our medical team that travels with the team immediately ran onto the field to help him. They stabilised him and the ambulance came on and moved him as quickly as possible to hospital.”
In April last year, Dale College pupil Liyabona Teyise died after he suffered a head injury in a match in East London.
IOL Sport
