Chris Harris on his life-changing rugby journey and how drinking from his prosthetic leg is ‘a rite of passage’ for HKCC’s seconds
The 30-year-old takes to the field in the Hong Kong Premiership’s A competition as grand championship play-offs begin this weekend
When you think of the uses for a prosthetic leg, unless you are a teammate of Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC’s Chris Harris then “drinking vessel” likely doesn’t come to mind.
And while Harris losing his left leg 15 centimetres below his knee at the age of three is no laughing matter, the 30-year-old is able to find the funny side of the role his fake limb plays in the fabric of HKCC’s Premiership A team.
“It is good for team building. It has become something of a rite passage at Cricket Club for new guys that play with me [to drink from the leg], especially if you have a bad day,” Harris says.
Harris’ courage has had a profound impact on the Hong Kong rugby community since the Englishman decided to start playing rugby again nearly six years ago after stopping at the age of 11.
“The usual reaction, if someone hasn’t seen me play before and I tell them about it, is they tend to be a little bit sceptical,” he said.
“There are a lot of guys who I have played with who didn’t know until they had played one or two games with me, because it’s not really that noticeable.