sport news No guts, no Rory! How Sutherland came back from horror injury to fulfil Lions ...

sport news No guts, no Rory! How Sutherland came back from horror injury to fulfil Lions ...
sport news No guts, no Rory! How Sutherland came back from horror injury to fulfil Lions ...

Rory Sutherland should not be walking, let alone playing matches for the Lions.

After the pre-departure Japan game at Murrayfield last month, in which the Scottish prop played his first 52 minutes since March, there were tears among the Sutherland family in the crowd.

His mother, sister, auntie and wife all wore shirts with their man’s name on – not one among them would have thought he would ever make this stage five years ago.

For in 2016 Sutherland suffered one of the worst injuries imaginable, ripping both sides of his groin completely off the bone in a warm-up – an horrendous blow that saw him wheelchair bound for a month, largely bed-ridden for three, rehabilitating for 14 and told he may never take a comfortable step again.

Rory Sutherland has battled back from a career-ending injury to fulfil his Lions dream

Rory Sutherland has battled back from a career-ending injury to fulfil his Lions dream

‘I went to sprint before a game against Harlequins and it was like a shotgun going off between my legs,’ he described – admitting now he had hidden this building groin problem through his early Edinburgh matches and first four Scotland caps.

‘The adductors are made up of loads of tiny little sleeves – so I was told by the specialist – and one of the sides, maybe the right, had torn a little bit and was on its last legs.

‘Because I sprinted the left side was under so much pressure they both came off the bone.

‘I got the scan, went to see a lot of different specialists, talked to a lot of people, and every single one of them said “think of your quality of life, forget rugby – that is never going to be an option for you ever again.”

‘After my operation I spent a month at home, it failed due to a bad infection. Re-doing it they then said “this is your last chance for a normal, mobile life”.

‘I had a couple of months in the house, only getting up to go to the toilet, and when I needed to eat or drink. There are some things I will never take for granted now.

Pictured in 2016, Sutherland would rip both sides of his groin from the bone months later

Pictured in 2016, Sutherland would rip both sides of his groin from the bone months later

‘The very first month was one of the worst experiences of my life. I would wake up, then had to wait for my wife Tammy to get up and see to the kids first, she’d get me out of bed and put me in the wheelchair, or on my crutches.

‘She’d help me into the bathroom so I could go to the toilet, make me breakfast, she was superwoman!’

Sutherland was then 23, his son Mason four and Hamish newly born. He was helpless, slipped into depression, fits of anxiety and stared into the abyss.

‘I had some horrible days lying on my bed thinking,’ he recalled, speaking exclusively to Sportsmail.

‘The first month I wasn’t even thinking about rugby, it was about my quality of life.

‘It’s something a lot of rugby players don’t like to talk about, but a huge thing for me was the financial side of things – what was I going to do if I couldn’t play again?

‘How was I going to provide for my family?

‘I went through a year of my life thinking I was a burden on them. But I kept believing I would get back. I did.’

Sutherland's wife, Tammy (top right), would help him in his recovery from that horrific injury

Sutherland's wife, Tammy (top right), would help him in his recovery from that horrific injury

It is easy to see why, then, when our photographer went to visit him to take pre-tour socially-distanced photographs in his garden in Lauder, within the Scottish Borders, Sutherland was keen for his boys Mason and Hamish to be included in the pictures wearing their Lions shirts bought by grandpa Steve.

‘I wouldn’t have made it as far as I have without my family at home – a good wife and kids that are understanding of me being away all the time,’ he said.

‘That’s

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