Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Sporting great Sonny Bill Williams has revealed he was rushed into emergency surgery after suffering complications while recovering from a neck operation.
The 40-year-old Rugby World Cup winner and NRL premiership hero turned boxer first went under the knife earlier this month but is back in hospital a week later.
He has now spent multiple days under observation after doctors found and acted on an abscess on his spinal cord.
Williams said his issues first started when he woke up a few days after the initial surgery with a fever, while he was also vomiting and had puss coming out of his wound.
“My wound got infected from the surgery so I had to rush up to the hospital, went up to the emergency ward, been here for a couple of days now,” he said.
“The worrying a bit about this whole thing — it’s so close to my spinal cord, the infection, so inshallah (God willing) in the next couple of days things will come good.”
Williams’ wife Alana added in a comment: “Would like to add that he had to undergo a second surgery within the week to clean out the infection and abscess sitting on his spinal cord. Alhamdullilah all went well and recovering slowly.”
A spinal cord or epidural abscess is a serious infection that can cause life-changing injuries or turn fatal without prompt treatment.
Williams, who has now undergone five neck operations in his life, said other patients in emergency had given him perspective to ‘count your blessings’.
One woman had recently finished chemotherapy but was “back in because they found more cancerous cells”, he said.
“There was a grown man crying, literally crying, because of the pain that he was in and they couldn’t give him the pain relief that he needed,” Williams went on.
He said a man in a nearby bed was battling cancer and had flown from the other side of the country just to be treated while another “has no stomach but he’s so optimistic”.
Williams said he was inspired after recently reading a quote: “Health is a crown that only the sick can see.”
“Being here in this space, man, it’s just made my problems, not just in here with my health, but outside of my household, and what we go through, it just seems like that (small),” he said.
“It’s made me so grateful for all the challenges, because they’re all blessings. My kids get to come up here and see me, I get to see my loved ones, I get to be with my wife.”
He said visiting the sick would provide wisdom and allow others to feel more grateful.
Williams revealed his surgery earlier this month in sending “a reminder for young athletes and parents”.
“Understand this is the reality sometimes of the sport that we love and play,” he said.
“And to remember professional sport at the highest level is a business. Please remember this.
“I ain’t got no one here paying my bills from back in the days — no organisations, no CEOs ringing me making sure I’m OK.
“In a high-performance space, if you’re not performing, what will happen? See you later with a handshake. They may say they love you, they may put their hands around your shoulder, but they’ll still say see you later.
“And that’s cool. I’ll never change my path as a sportsman because it brought me so much joy. It allowed me to change the trajectory of where my family was headed from a financial point of view and spiritual point of view — I found faith.
“But nonetheless I think this is the reality of things. The reality of things is that it is a business. So you do (need to) make sure you look after yourself, look after your family. Make choices that will support yourself and your family for the long haul, but also have a backup plan.
“I didn’t have a formal education. I dropped out of school at fifteen. Although later on in my career, towards the end of it, I went back to university and I got a degree.
“I’m an anomaly. Dropping out of school, putting all my eggs in one basket, I am an anomaly — so have a back-up plan. Study, trade, whatever it may be, whatever it may look like.
“Cause majority of people now, like I’ve said in many other videos, that career, that lifespan is very, very short. I hope that all made sense. I’m about to go in and get another surgery from years of battling this body.”
