Alex McKinnon

[Rod]

Anyone who hears any news, put it here.

Pretty worried for the kid.

 

[perverse]

Hope he's ok, bit scary that they wouldn't talk about it on TV.

 

[Nuffy]

Hope he's ok, bit scary that they wouldn't talk about it on TV.

Thats the scary part, usually they are happy to say player X if off to hospital for precautionary scans.

This time no one wants to say anything.

Good luck to the kid.

 

[voltron]

on triple m they said he was moving his hands and legs
so hopefully thats a true report and its not as bad as it could be

 

[Swarzey]

Quite scary and I'm rather worried, especially after what we saw after Fa'aoso's career end because of the neck injury. He looked scared on the ground, struggling to get his head off the ground and move his arms.

Fox Sports refusing to comment on it made me rather concerned. Lots of respect for not starting a wildfire of rumours. You just know that the scummy merkins in the papers and TV will hound the club for answers.

But f**k me, lost a lot of respect for Smith carrying on afterwards. Zero compassion.

 

[Serc]

Nothing major to contribute, but I am the most worried I have been for any player at any club for as long as I can remember, based on the odd and evasive comments from not just the club's staff, but the commentators as well. Here's the convo from the post game press conference anyway:

Reporter: Can you give us an update on Alex McKinnon's condition?

Bennett: Ahh, no I can't, because I don't know. He's at the hospital now, and gone to emergency I understand, so we'll have to wait and see now.

Reporter: There's some reports that he had some movement in his limbs, is that something you can confirm?

Bennett: Look I don't want to confirm or deny anything right now, its a pretty delicate situation and I just want to leave it at that until we're all better informed and know what we're talking about

http://nrl.com/rd-3-press-conference-knights/tabid/10959/contentid/623832/default.aspx

 

[Yosh]

Man... I'm so scared... I wonder why the commentators had to say it like that... They made it sound like the worst case scenario had just occurred but they didn't want to be the ones to deliver the terrible news... I hope the kids okay...

 

[K-Man]

To be honest I found the commentary highly unprofessional and bordering on ridiculous. Do they think people are stupid? The way Andy Raymond carried on about how insensitive it would be to speculate, all the while inferring that he did indeed know something and that it was not good news, just stoked the fire even more.

If they were actually being sensitive to the delicate nature of the situation, they would have simply said the player has been taken to hospital and no further information is available at this time. Back to the game and no further mention. That's being sensitive - faux sincerity and respect is not.

It smacked of media not wanting to seem like they weren't on top of the story, but also not wanting to actually reveal their information, so settling on the worst possible course of action that made every single viewer and the entire league community suddenly realise something was going on when usually we never have much idea about the state of an injured player.

Media bashing aside, I'm pretty freaked out for the guy. It's one of those situations where I can honestly say that if the news is that he may never play football again, I'll be relieved.

 

[The Showstopper]

The game means nothing when you see a young kid nearly get destroyed for life right in front of you. Prayers for Alex lads. His welfare is my only concern about last night. We will fight on next week and every week after that. Long way to go yet.

 

[TooheysNew]

http://leagueunlimited.com/news/injury-update-alex-mckinnon

Scan results for Alex McKinnon confirm a fracture at C4 and C5.

His spinal cord is not severed but the doctors are unsure about the level of spinal cord compromise.

It will be a number of days or weeks until the extent of his injury is known.

Alex’s family have now arrived in Melbourne and are with him, along with Club doctor Peter McGeoch and Club officials.

When there is additional information, an update will be provided.

We ask that any reporting of this delicate matter be handled with respect to Alex and his family.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Mixed news there. Good that his spinal cord is still intact. Fingers crossed that the fracture is the absolute worst of it.

Good luck Alex. Hopefully nothing but good news from here.

 

[Pete Cash]

Yeah I just read the news. It was one of the worst looking things I have seen on a football field. I hope the extent of the spinal injuries is less enough so he can at least maintain a reasonable standard of living. Awful injury. A c4 fracture is always scary because its in the high cervical nerves. Fingers crossed it turns out ok.

 

[Rod]

Oh man.

I'm no expert so don't know what that means for him long term, but obviously not that great. Best wishes to him.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

The only thing worse would be a severed spinal chord. Shocking injury.

If it's a stable fracture he'll be in a neck brave for a few months. If it's unstable he will need surgery.

And god knows how much his spinal chord is affected. You would imagine after fracturing 2 vertebrae that it's almost certain there will be some damage.

Best case scenario is he is back for 2015.

 

[The Showstopper]

I have worked with spinal injuries for years . The #s and where they have occurred mean he will be in a hard collar neck brace for months at best. Not a chance he will play again this year. He will be fine but it will need some serious luck for him to be cleared to play again. They do not muck around these days. The vertebrae can splinter and it is enough to cut the spinal chord in half .

 

[Seage]

Just awful. You wonder what the outcome may have been if he didn't duck his head.

I hope the kid is okayand in a position to resume his career.

 

[Chook]

I wish all the very best for the kid. It was a sickening accident and I sincerely hope Alex makes a full recovery.

Is there a tribute page on the Knights website where we can send our best?

Chook.

 

[Nuffy]

Incredibly bad luck, lets all hope it ends on a positive note.

I was trying to work out why he tucked his head and I think that because he was heading face first into the ground and his arms were pinned, he tucked his head hoping to protect his face as it was about to be the first point of contact with the ground.

 

[TooheysNew]

Incredibly bad luck, lets all hope it ends on a positive note.

I was trying to work out why he tucked his head and I think that because he was heading face first into the ground and his arms were pinned, he tucked his head hoping to protect his face as it was about to be the first point of contact with the ground.

Not at all.

Players are trained to tuck the head in the event that they are going over beyond horizontal, in an attempt to land on the flat of their back or upper back, versus top of their head.

Of course, when you're upside down and your limbs are pinned, it's tough to work out which way is up, and how far tilted you're going to get.

 

[Nuffy]

Not at all.

Players are trained to tuck the head in the event that they are going over beyond horizontal, in an attempt to land on the flat of their back or upper back, versus top of their head.

Of course, when you're upside down and your limbs are pinned, it's tough to work out which way is up, and how far tilted you're going to get.

Fair enough, I thought it looked like his nose was going to be the first point of contact and he tried to avoid that but your explanation makes sense.

A real shit sandwich for the bloke, I wish him well through this.