Fractured leg goes unnoticed

Press, 17 June 1986, Page 1

Fractured leg goes unnoticed

By

DAVID LEGGAT

A Christchurch soccer player discovered yesterday that he had broken a leg in a Hertz League match — on Saturday. Josh te Kaat, who was playing his last match for KLM Cashmere before moving to Wellington this week, was taken to Christchurch Hospital after suffering the injury just above his left ankle early in the match against Andas Halswell United at English Park. The injury was checked at the hospital’s accident and emergency department and te Kaat was told no bone had been broken. He was not given an Xray, nor was he given crutches. “I told him I couldn’t put any weight on the leg, but he didn’t think anything was broken and sent me on my way,” said te Kaat. At first the leg was numb and sore rather

than particularly painful until Saturday evening, he said. Te Kaat went to his doctor yesterday morning, having spent an agonising Sunday at home. His doctor immediately had an X-ray taken which revealed a clean break. The leg was then encased in plaster. Te Kaat, one of the Southern League’s leading

defenders, said he could understand, to a certain extent, how the oversight happened. The hospital was especially busy when he arrived.

The acting medical superintendent of Christchurch Hospital, Dr Ken Laing, said last evening that he could not comment on the case until he had made further inquiries. It was a bad day for injuries at English Park on Saturday. Te Kaat’s team-mate, Steve Welford, suffered a broken jaw in a clash of heads, and the Halswell striker, Allan Carville, was carried off with injuries to his right leg.

in the other match at the park, the Budget House Rangers captain, Alan South, also suffered a broken leg. This time however, the injury was diagnosed almost immediately and an ambulance took him to hospital.