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Akil Mitchell of the NBL’s New Zealand Breakers suffered one of the most horrific sports injuries in memory on Thursday when an accidental poke in the eye from an opponent saw his left eyeball come out of its socket.
The vision of the incident is graphic content and does not by any definition make for pleasant watching.
Play was stopped at the match for about 15 minutes as Mitchell was taken off the court, and he was then taken to hospital by ambulance.
He was treated there and in the words of the NBL Twitter account is “doing well”, and still able to see out of his injured eye.
Update: Akil Mitchell is doing well & resting, he can see in that eye, further tests will be done tomorrow. We wish him a speedy recovery!
— NBL (@NBL) January 26, 2017
Mitchell himself was well enough to take to Twitter after leaving hospital and was already in the mood to poke a little fun at his own bad luck.
?… too soon? Lol thanks for all the love, well wishes, and prayers tonight. I'm home and seeing fine, more tests tomorrow
— akil mitchell (@ajmitchell25) January 26, 2017
The 24-year-old American joined the New Zealand Breakers in 2016 after playing for some years in the USA. He was briefly signed by the Houston Rockets but did not make an NBA debut.
The Breakers eventually lost the match 81-94 at home to the Cairns Taipans.
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