A New Zealand Breakers basketball player whose eyeball popped out mid-game yesterday said he “freaked out” at the gruesome injury, but was relieved his sight was apparently unaffected.
“I could still see out of the eye even though it was kinda on the side of my face... it was a weird sensation,” forward Akil Mitchell said.
Mitchell was on the attack in an Australian NBL game against the Cairns Taipans in Auckland on Thursday night when he caught an accidental finger in the eye from an opposing player.
Photo: AFP
The US import fell to the floor writhing in agony and holding his hands to his left eye as horrified teammates tried to help.
“With the palm of my hand I felt my eyeball on the side of my face, which was when I knew this was worse than I [first] thought it was,” Mitchell told Radio Sport.
The 24-year-old heard a collective gasp from the crowd and said he “freaked out,” believing he would lose sight in the eye and his career was over.
He told the radio station that while the injury was painful, the worst part was not being able to blink, making his fully functioning eyeball red and irritated.
“Once I got in the ambulance they gave me a little pain medicine and some saline drops in my eye, and I felt it slide back into place, which is also a really strange feeling,” he said. “It felt so good to be able to blink again, which is insane.”
The North Carolina native said he was on track for a full recovery and planned to wear goggles when he resumed playing.
“I’m blessed and lucky that it’s healed the way it has already ... the doctor said I should be able to get back on the court pretty soon,” he said.
Mitchell was even able to joke about the injury, tweeting a cartoon of a pair of eyeballs after being discharged from hospital, along with the words “...too soon?”
Breakers general manager Dillon Boucher described Mitchell’s recovery as a miracle, saying his teammates feared the worst when he went to hospital.
Though badly shaken, they resumed the game after the incident, losing 94-81, a result Boucher said felt insignificant after his player’s injury scare.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS