Sunday, July 27, 2008

Mathew Kiely injured in football match

Source: The Chronicle 25/07/08 ... archived 27/07/08

Shocking injury set to sideline Kiely for at least 18 months

Written by SCOTT ANDERSON.

KING Valley footballer Matt Kiely should be celebrating his 23rd birthday today.

Instead he will be resting at home, with the aid of painkillers, after suffering a shocking injury last weekend.

The Roos’ biggest win of the season was soured when the star midfielder was carried from the ground with a badly broken arm just minutes before his side recorded a stunning 33-point win over Milawa.

Kiely, who was named best on ground in the match, was injured when he landed heavily after being tackled in the dying stages of the final term.

At first it was thought he had dislocated his right shoulder, but after being taken to hospital in Wangaratta, x-rays revealed shocking damage to Kiely’s humerus and shoulder joint.

"I’m not sure exactly what happened, but it snapped the end off my shoulder - the ball at the top of my arm," he said.

"I think I half got slung to the ground, and I don’t know if I just landed badly or someone fell on top of me or what.

"I got taken into the rooms, but they knew it was really bad - I was in a fair bit of agony, and they rushed me to hospital as quick as they could.

"When they did the x-rays there was a lot of damage."

Surgeons operated on Kiely’s shoulder and arm on Saturday night, inserting a metal plate and pins to rejoin the fractured bone.

He was scheduled to leave hospital on Tuesday, until further x-rays revealed bone fragments and damage that had previously gone unseen.

The surgeons were called back in for a secondary operation, leaving him hospitalised until yesterday afternoon.

Kiely, who has a three-month-old daughter, now faces at least 18 months out of football, and a significant period of rehabilitation before he will be able to resume work as a fencer.

"They have to leave the plate and pins in there for about a year, then we’ll just have to wait and see after that.

"I won’t be able to play football next year, and whether or not I can play the following year just depends how well it all heals," he said.


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