After suffering one of the most horrific injuries seen in sport, New Zealand Breakers forward Akil Mitchell is expected to make a full recovery from his eye being poked out of its socket while contesting a rebound.
The Breakers Round 17 game came to an abrupt stop for 15 minutes as Mitchell was treated and removed from the court, the vision horrifying commentators, spectators and social media users with many saying it was the worst they have ever seen on a sporting field anywhere.
Mitchell’s eye was dislodged from its socket as a defenders arm accidentally made contact, and Mitchell was taken to hospital for treatment and scans, with initial concerns for the star’s career and permanent damage being done.
“With the palm of my hand I felt my eyeball on the side of my face, which was when I knew this was worse than I thought it was,” he told Radio Sport.
However, Mitchell was quickly onto Twitter, assuring fans he could see once again and that he had already left hospital, waiting for more tests on Friday.
?… 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
In a statement released by the NBL and Mitchell’s club the Breakers today, Mitchell called his quick recovery and being able to see again a miracle.
“All the specialists that I’ve seen so far have said that it looks good. They don’t see any damage,” Mitchell said.
“As serious as the injury could have been, for everything to be ok and for me to be able to see you guys today and joke about it, is something that I can only describe as a miracle.”
Mitchell said he is planning to wear goggles when he returns to playing, something we have already seen this season with Melbourne United forward Devin Williams turning out in googles during his stint in the league.
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