A young footy player has overcome massive odds after being paralysed by a tackle just minutes into a rugby league match.
Lincon Goard, 17, was playing for the Binnaway Bombshells Rugby League Club in Narromine near Dubbo in central-west NSW on July 20 when his life changed in an instant.
The teen ‘heard a crunch’ when he was tackled by two opponents and immediately lost all feeling and movement in his limbs just seven minutes into the match.
A medic and off-duty police officer rushed onto the field and helped stabilise Lincon as they waited for an hour in the cold waiting for an ambulance.
An MRI confirmed that the apprentice tradie broke his C4 vertebrae and dislocated his C5 spinal cord.
He was then airlifted to Sydney’s Royal North Hospital, where he underwent a marathon six hour surgery to artificially replace his vertebrae and fix the dislocation.
Lincon was slowly awoken from an induced coma and stunned doctors by being able to slightly move his left leg and arm.
‘The doctors told Lincon that one in a million patients in his state and with his injury do not progress like he has,’ his mother Nicole told 7News.
Young footy player Lincon Goard (right), has made massive strides on a long road to recovery after being paralysed just minutes into a rugby league game
Lincon’s miraculous recovery continued after five days in rehab at RNSH as he took slowly started walking.
While he has continued to progress and shock his doctors, the damage to his nervous system will still take a long time to recover.
‘He’s very determined and he’s only 17 so it’s sort of like his life was just about to take off, he really wants to get back to where he started,’ his mum said.
She added that Lincon is determined to continue progressing and has already asked when he’ll be able to return to the field.
The teen lost all feeling and movement in his limbs but was able to start walking slowly after a six-hour surgery to replace one vertebrae and fix another which was dislocated
A GoFundMe started by a family friend of the family revealed Lincon had only just finished his heavy vehicle mechanics apprenticeship with his father Mark.
‘Lincon and Mark are the only employees of this business and therefore its operation is obsolete for the foreseeable future,’ the the page read.
‘Lincon is determined to be back at work in the future and he just cannot wait to get home and hang out with his mates and drive his beloved ute.’
The GoFundMe to support the family while unable to work has received over $5,000 in just over five days.
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