PICTURES: Springbok star undergoes neck surgery
Today at 04:29 AM
In an action-packed season Springboks, one of the most concerning injury absentees has been that of popular prop Steven Kitshoff, who has been sidelined for the majority of the year.
A serious neck injury has threatened to forced the influential prop into early retirement if he receives an unfavourable assessment after undergoing a crucial neck operation.
It’s understood that the surgery took place last week, and some images shared with TheSouthAfrican certainly paint a picture of its severity.
The double World Cup-winning prop has been out since early September after sustaining the injury playing for Western Province in a Currie Cup game after just returning from a serious knee injury.
Recently, when speaking on the popular Boks Office show, Kitshoff described how the injury occurred and just why it was such a ‘scary’ situation.
"It's a bit of a stressful one because it's such a high area of my neck – C1 and C2 – which is a bit of an issue," he said. "It was quite a fright. It happened in the weirdest way. Just a normal scrum, and everyday type of thing, and then I just felt something snap at the back.
"Mine was just a normal scrum. The scrum didn't even collapse. In the process of the scrum, I just felt something go.”
The 32-year-old has now undergone a neck fusion procedure, and he will now wait to see what the diagnosis may be from the specialist as he faces the very real prospect of being forced into early retirement.
“Basically now I just want to get it (the surgery) done and start the rehab process and see what happens after that,” he added in his recent interview.
In the latest update from the Springbok camp, team doctor Jerome Mampane was non-committal when providing the latest update on Kitshoff.
"With Kitshoff, I think there is quite a bit of an assessment phase still going on. Whatever announcement needs to be made, I think we should, hopefully, in the next month or two get some sort of clarity on what his position is.
"Currently, as far as I understand, he is doing quite a lot of travelling at the moment, so it sounds like he's in good spirits. I don't know, physically, if that is also translating."
Springbok star Steven Kitshoff faces an uncertain future
Recently Stormers coach John Dobson also shed more light on the nature of the injury.
"There's a thing called an ADI gap, which is a measurement at the top of the neck…. Where the injury is, you have to be super conservative."
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