Penrith Panthers' Dallin Watene-Zelezniak could have had heart attack on field
March 1, 2016 - 8:00PM
Michael Chammas
On the eve of his return to the NRL, the 20-year-old has opened up about his obstacles overcoming a collapsed lung last year and how a decision to visit his specialist may have saved his life.
A month after he was taken to hospital following a heavy collision against the Roosters last year, Watene-Zelezniak was given the green light to make his return against South Sydney three weeks later.
However the New Zealander could sense something was wrong, and the decision to follow his gut instinct may have prevented a tragic outcome on that Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium in August.
"I just got this feeling that it didn't feel right, so I went and got a check up X-ray because I was meant to play on the Sunday against the Rabbitohs," Watene-Zelezniak told Fairfax Media.
"I said I just wanted to make sure if I was alright to play. So I went and got the check up and that's when they rushed me back to hospital.
"It's scary because I was going to play that weekend. I was running, but I wasn't running like my normal self. Lucky I got it checked because the specialist said I could have had a heart attack if I played."
Things were so dire for Watene-Zelezniak, who at the time had just proposed to his now wife, his heart and oesophagus had shifted from their normal positions.
He was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery to drain his chest and reinflate his lungs, but the effects of the surgery could live with the speedster for the rest of his life.
"The side of my body is all numb still," he said.
"I can't feel it. The only thing is sore is when someone's knuckles run across my ribs. I'm still building up muscle there. Morgs [Panthers physio Kieran Morgan] said it might come back in six months, it could be years or it might never come back. You can tell this whole side is just sloppy. It's slowly coming back, but before it was just sagging. It was yuck. The numbness used to be everywhere but it's slowly getting smaller and smaller.
"After the surgery I couldn't train for three months. I could barely walk without getting puffed. When the drains were in, I couldn't move in hospital. Every movement I was in agony. Day one of pre-season was my first training session. About a week beforehand I could jog, because the specialist said don't go from nothing to smashing yourself. I slowly just started jogging and then when pre-season started I was ready to go."
Watene-Zelezniak still carries the scars on his side and back as a reminder of the torture he went through to get back to playing the game he loves, but he says the true motivation came sitting in hospital bed reading reports that his career was over.
"I just wanted to play because everyone was saying 'it's the end of his career'," Watene-Zelezniak said.
"That's what motivated me, people saying it was the end of my career and I wanted to prove them wrong. The doctor said 'don't listen to anyone. I'm the specialist who has looked at your X-ray and did your procedure and you're perfectly normal now'. He said 'you have a long career ahead of you'.
"In the Nines, I was covering it up a bit and running with one side. You could tell when I was running I was blocking it all the time. Even when I walked, I walked differently because it would hurt to drop my arm. But I'm gaining more confidence now and ready to go."
