Keeper Breaks Neck And Carries On Plus 7 Other Sporting Bravehearts
To me there are four types of sports people within us all:
- The weak. These are the people that will use any excuse to stop playing. One tug of hair and a broken nail and they’re off.
- The part timers. Many will fall into this category. We’ll start to push ourselves to a limit but when the pain kicks in, it’s tag team time.
- The elite. Actual sports stars would tick this box. Athletes who stretch their bodies abilities to the extreme because of their desire to achieve.
- The badass Mother Fuckers. These people are the anomalies. Even when they are broken (literally) they will drive through the pain and deal with it later.
Prepare for your mind to be blown by these nutters that exemplify rank number four…
1. Shun Fujimoto
This Japanese gymnast fractured his knee cap during his floor routine an the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Yet there remained two events for him to complete for his Country to beat their Soviet rivals. Fujimoto believed he had no choice but to hide his agonising injury from his coaches. He soldiered on scoring a solid 9.5 out of 10 on the pommel horse and a near flawless ring routine. After landing a high difficulty triple somersault he collapsed in distress later to reveal he had dislocated his kneecap. Japan won gold! Someone give this guy a lad medal to add to that collection.
2. Bert Trautmann
In the 1956 FA Cup Final the Manchester City goalkeeper broke his neck in the 75th minute. To add insult to injury his team had made all their substitutes so he remained in the firing line until the final whistle.
3. Kerri Strung
Doing it for the ladies. Strug of the United States gymnastic team won her country gold in the 1996 Summer Olympics with a one leg landed vault with a sprained ankle.
4. Chris Simms
In September 2006 the quarterback was brutalised by a never ending onslaught of hits from the Carolina Panthers. Carrying on through the pain he later discovered he had ruptured his spleen.
5. Tony McMeiken
Representing the referees. McMeiken of the Isle of Man continued to mediate his game with a broken arm in the 10th minute. See a a few of them are good guys.
6. Ally Maxwell
In 1991 the Motherwell football keeper saved a crucial shot in extra time winning his team the Scottish cup. Maxwell spent the next 9 days in hospital with 3 broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.
7. Ronnie Lott
In the last game of the 1985 season SanFrancisco 49ers cornerback/safety brutally mangled his finger. Instead of running off and screaming like a baby, like the majority of us would, he taped the thing up and got straight back in. I supposed that’s why Lott is now in the Hall of Fame. Following the game his finger was so badly messed up that it had to be amputated. Talk about commitment to the team. High four man.
8. Derek Redmond
Redmond to me optimises everything that it is to be British. When he snapped his hamstring during the 400m semifinal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games Redmond refused to give up and was determined to finish. Helped towards the finish line by his father is a seriously tear-jerking moment, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Well, I think we can all agree that these sporting bravehearts deserve some serious lad points. Their shocking sporting mishaps will make your tight hamstring and bruised elbow seem a little insignificant now. If these injuries terrified the bejesus out of you. Forcing you to consider never taking part in a sporting occasion ever again, why stop the fear there? Check out the world’s most terrifying playground to really shake you up.