Hong Kong Sevens: Hugo Stiles hoping this is his year after ‘pretty scary’ injury left him fearing he’d never play again
- Stiles lost the feeling in his right arm after a collision in training and specialists warned him he may never play again
- Now 6 months later he is hoping to finally get the chance to play in the city’s flagship tournament for the first time
Six months ago Hugo Stiles was looking forward to the possibility of playing at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time, then a freak training ground injury left him wondering if he’d ever hold a rugby ball again.
A collision during an everyday drill in November caused nerve damage to his right shoulder area, leaving him with a loss of feeling in the arm and watching from the sidelines as the tournament returned to the city for the first time in three-and-a-half years.
Even for a player who experienced the disappointment of missing out on an Olympics, it was tough to take, and despite being no stranger to injuries, having dealt with dislocated ankles and a ruptured ACL in the past, it was the unknown that made this time “pretty scary”.
“It was quite a discreet injury. I caught a whiplash injury in training, and got home and had some pretty serious muscle spasms and twitches, which led to total loss of power down my arm, and then total loss of feeling,” the 26-year-old said.
“I had to see a few specialists, and they told me it was nerve damage and they didn’t know whether or not it was going to come back. So it was kind of wait and see, which as an athlete is the last thing you want to hear.
“I’ve done my ACL, dislocated my ankle and you know how long you’ll be out for, 10 months, 100 days, but this one, [they said] you might not play again – that really did hinder me, and probably affected me mentally more than anything.”
