FORMER Wigan Warriors star Kai Pearce-Paul suffered a gruesome injury over the weekend that nearly made his Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O’Brien throw up.
Pearce-Paul, who has become a key figure in the Knights’ chase of a finals spot, ended up needing emergency surgery after a teammate’s stud caused a deep 15cm gash in his shin.
The injury, described by his coach Adam O’Brien as resembling “a shark bite,” occurred in the 33rd minute of the game, with Pearce-Paul having to be transported immediately to hospital for surgery.
“He got split, a stud, like, cut him open,” Pearce-Paul’s Knights teammate Kalyn Ponga said.
“I just saw a photo of it then and it nearly made me crook, it’s awful,” Newcastle boss Adam O’Brien said.
“It’s not like a soft tissue injury or a bone break or anything, but it’s pretty big. It’s like a shark bite at the moment, it’s huge.”
Amazingly, Pearce-Paul could still play against the Gold Coast Titans in the Knights’ next NRL fixture.
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