Pedro Oliveira
Unfortunately, today is Friday, May 13th. We decided, then, to present a couple of notes about the worst fortunes in the sporting world here at JefeBet, alluding to the superstition that is attached to the combination of the day and this number of the month. We’ll show you then the worst injuries seen in recent years in major sports leagues around the world.
These moments have been some of the most harrowing and shocking moments ever captured on camera at any live event. Without further ado, here are the events we chose to best represent today’s Friday the 13th.
WARNING: Below, we’ll show clips of really brutal injuries, so if you can’t or don’t want to withstand harsh visuals of what can happen to the human body, don’t read any further.
Worst injuries: Marcin Wasilewski—Jupiter League (Belgian League)
The Poland international team was the victim of a severe level of aggression by Alex Witsel, the famous Belgian midfielder, who was playing for Standard Liège at the time. In 2009, during a Jupiter League match between Standard and Anderlecht, Wasilewski’s team, Witsel’s foot landed on Wasilewski’s left leg during a loose ball possession dispute, causing open fractures in the Polish player’s tibia and fibula that completely deformed the orientation of his lower limb.
The Belgian was immediately sent off and suspended for eight matches due to his actions, while Wasilewski returned to the field in May 2010. Fortunately, his career was not affected by this event, but it did leave many Belgian fans scarred for life.
Worst Injuries: Paul George – NBA
During the month of August 2014, in the middle of an exhibition game for the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, Paul George, star of the Indiana Pacers at the time, tried to defend shooting guard James Harden’s layup attempt. However, the 24-year-old forward landed not only in a severe way, but against the base of the hoop, bending his right leg in an unnatural way and shocking all onlookers, even his teammates.
The final diagnosis was an open fracture of the tibia and fibula that would keep him out of the field until April 2015. Thankfully, PG13 was able to continue his stellar career and is still considered one of the finest players in the NBA today. But this injury left many people scarred for life, no doubt.
Worst Injuries: Clint Malarchuk – NHL
This is something I have never seen before in my life: during a meeting in 1989 between the St. Louis Blues and the Buffalo Sabres, Malarchuk suffered one of the most horrific and dangerous injuries on any court in any sport. The Sabres goalie was slammed by Steve Tuttle (of the Blues) and teammate Uwe Krupp in a struggle during the opposing offense. Tuttle’s skate blade ended up slicing Malarchuk’s neck, causing rupture of his carotid artery and a partial cut in his jugular vein.
The goalkeeper began to lose blood immediately and in large quantities, and the game had to be stopped. The shock of the event prompted fainting, vomiting, and even heart attacks among the NHL game’s spectators. Fortunately, Clint survived after losing 1.5 liters of blood and requiring 300 stitches in his wound. He recovered completely after 10 days.
Worst Injuries: Napoleon McCallum – NFL
The running back’s career would change forever after a Monday Night Football event involving the Los Angeles Raiders and San Francisco 49ers in 1994. In his sixth season as a professional after being drafted in 1986 out of the U.S. Naval Academy, McCallum would suffer one of the worst injuries ever seen on the field.
After being rammed by Ken Norton Jr. on a play where he had possession of the ball, his left boot got stuck in the turf as Norton drove McCallum’s upper torso into the ground. The result was Napoleon’s knee suffering one of the worst dislocations ever seen, with the play causing a hyperextension that destroyed all the ligaments in the left knee, an artery and the hamstring and calf tendons that attach them to the bone.
On top of all that, he also suffered nerve damage in the same knee, and underwent successful surgery with permanent consequences: McCallum would be forced to retire from the NFL, with doctors labeling his injury as serious as if he had been in a car accident. The operation carried such a high risk that amputation was the only way to treat the Raiders player’s injuries if it failed.
Worst Injuries: Kevin Ware – NCAA
This could easily be labeled as the most horrific injury anyone has ever seen in any professional sport; to this day, it is probably the most critical break in basketball history. During the 2013 NCAA March Madness, the Duke Blue Devils faced off against the Louisville Cardinals in the Elite 8. All of this appeared normal for a high-intensity college basketball matchup, but things would take a bad turn following a Cardinals’ defensive play.
At the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, Kevin Ware attempted to block a shot made by Tyler Thornton, but he jumped too high and landed badly on his right leg. His tibia and fibula were completely broken as a result of this, and it was such a severe injury that you could see the bone sticking out of Ware’s skin. The game was immediately stopped until the young point guard could be taken in for emergency surgery, which lasted a total of two hours.
Ware continued his career in the NCAA with Louisville and then George State, and eventually played in several professional leagues around the world: England, Greece, Serbia, Canada, Czech Republic and currently Iraq. Despite suffering one of the most devastating injuries in the sport’s history, the 29-year-old has had no trouble continuing his career. The bad news is that without Ware on the team, Louisville was able to win the NCAA national title that year, but he would be eventually stripped of his honors for a sex scandal that surfaced in 2015.
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