Titans star Keano Kini has revealed that he could have been left paralysed amid news he’ll miss most of the season with a serious neck injury.
Kini is due to undergo surgery on his neck this week to remove a herniated disc near his spinal cord and will miss at least three months.
According to CODE Sports, Kini’s spinal cord was compressed 10mm, 4mm from a extremely catastrophic injury.
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The injury was discovered after Kini went for scans early last week following a win over the Knights. The 20-year-old got through the full 80 minutes in that game but felt some discomfort post-match.
The reigning Titans Player of the Year is staying positive despite the unfortunate and somewhat uncertain setback, detailing how serious the injury could have been.
“I’m pretty lucky, it could have been a lot worse,” Kini told CODE Sports.
“The doc said if I copped another bad hit I could have been paralysed, so I feel blessed to have found this out now before something really serious happened.
“When he said that to me, I was pretty scared.
“I have a herniation of my disc in between my vertebrae, it was pushing into my spinal cord, so they are going to take that out and fuse the bones together.”
The injury is not believed to be career-threatening but the club is still taking every precaution to ensure this young gun can return to his devastating best.
Kini says it’s possible he doesn’t play again this season despite a return originally being earmarked for August.
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“They originally said I’ll be back around the Origin period but I really doubt that. Anything can happen with your neck, so I’m not going to rush anything,” Kini said.
“I’m focused on my health first rather than coming back to footy this year. Obviously, I’d love to be back this year, but if not, I will take my time to get back to my full potential.”
While Kini went for scans in the days following the win over the Knights, he believes the injury may have happened during the Pacific Championships late last year.
“I think it happened playing for the Kiwis against Tonga last year. In the warm up, I got some whiplash after getting a hit and the right side of my body went numb,” Kini said.
“In the first half of that game, I played the ball and I couldn’t feel my arm. Then in the Knights game I got a push in the back and the same feeling happened again.”
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