All Black’s flanker Sam Cane departed the field on Saturday during the Kiwi side’s fixture against the Springboks after a clash with South African loose forward Francois Louw. He seemed to be in obvious pain after the collision.
It was later shared that Cane had suffered fractured vertebrae in his neck as a result of the tackle and would need to remain in Pretoria to undergo surgery on his neck before he would be stable enough to return home to New Zealand. All Blacks’ doctor Tony Paige also stayed behind to monitor him, per the New Zealand Herald .
On Wednesday, the Kiwi side tweeted that Cane’s surgery had been successful and that he wasn’t wasting any time getting right back onto his feet.
The player then later took to his own Twitter account to share a note of thanks, not only to the people who have been offering up prayers and support for him as he recovers but also to his neck.
“A few things to be thankful for. Firstly, the circumference and strength of my neck, I may not be standing without it,” Cane said.
— Sam Cane (@SamCane7) October 10, 2018
Fortunately, the 26-year-old All Blacks stalwart is expected to make a full recovery given that he didn’t suffer any nerve damage in the incident, but crucially, he will miss the All Blacks’ end-of-year tour up north as he goes through physical therapy for the next three months.
“First he’s got to get through the operation,” Paige said. “We have every confidence he’ll do well with that and then like any fracture it takes a couple of weeks and months. It will probably take about three months for the bone to get strong but we’ll just take it step by step. The operation is really just to keep everything in the right place so the bone can heal on its own accord. Many sportsmen have had this injury and they usually make a good recovery. It’s one level of the neck. Sam’s in good spirits he’s obviously sore in the middle of the night as you are the night after a fracture but he’s being well looked after and is getting lots of support and texts and phone calls.”
UPDATE | #AllBlacks loose forward @SamCane7 is up and about after his successful operation in South Africa. Sam would like to thank everyone for all the support he has received from around the world, he is set to make a full recovery. ? pic.twitter.com/sdbeSMHVkI
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 9, 2018
With news coming that the flanker is out of the woods, the All Blacks will be focusing on a difficult tour without him, where a loss to the English could put them in jeopardy of losing their top spot on the World Rankings, per the Inquisitr .
