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Dan Lydiate has spoken of his concern for Welsh team-mate Owen Williams following the horrific neck injury he sustained last week.
Williams suffered a significant spinal cord injury while playing for the Cardiff Blues in Singapore during the World Club 10s.
The 22-year-old underwent surgery last Monday to stabilise a fracture in a Singapore hospital and has returned back to Wales over the weekend and been transferred to the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff.
Lydiate knows more than most what Williams is enduring after sustaining a broken neck as a teenager during the Dragons’ Heineken Cup clash against Perpignan in October 2007. Only 19 at the time, Lydiate crushed a disc, broke a vertebra and ruptured every ligament in his neck.
After a stay in a French hospital, he flew back in an air-ambulance to Wales for an operation to remove the threat of paralysis where a bone graft was taken from his hip and a put a plate into his neck.
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Lydiate, who spent almost a year out of the game, said: “It’s hard because I went through that when I was younger and you don’t wish it on your worst enemy.
“It feels so long ago now. I was just lucky and the support I had from my family, the Dragons and their medical support through the operation.
“I had the best of care and I was determined not to look back.
“That’s what life is about. You try not to dwell on the bad times and you just try to look to the good times.
“I am gutted for Owen. I don’t know too much about what happened but all our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
“All the rugby community around the world are rallying around Owen.
“I have been texting Jonny Sexton since the match whose first thought was how Owen was doing.
“It’s never nice to hear when something like this happens. He’s such a nice guy.
“Hopefully he has a speedy recovery and it’s good news but we will have to wait and see.
“It puts things in perspective. We were gutted about losing a rugby game against South Africa but when you hear the news on the way home about Owen, you realise it’s just a game and there are more important things.â€
Williams’ injury was sustained in the third/fourth place play-off against the Asia Pacific Dragons at the National Stadium at the Singapore Sports Hub.
The game was halted for some time as medics tended to Williams following a tackle.
Williams is regarded one of Welsh rugby’s most promising prospects having made his Test debut against Japan last summer and scoring a superb individual try against Tonga last Autumn.
More: Doctors confirm Owen Williams suffered serious spinal cord injury
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Article source: http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Rugby-Union-Eccleshall-appoint-Steve-Dolphin-new/story-21291258-detail/story.html
Broken neck victim Dan Lydiate offers support to seriously injured Wales star ...
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