As the doctors hurried around Matty Smith and the ambulance was being prepared to take him to Leeds General infirmary, what at first seemed like a minor moment of frustration quickly transformed into a potentially life-changing situation. Rugby players are renowned for being tough and, thankfully, Smith is now able to raise a smile when he is reminded that what was nothing more than a stray poke in the eye from a St Helens team-mate almost cost him much more than a few weeks on the sidelines.
A little over four weeks ago, Smith was hit with a stray hand from Jon Wilkin during a game against Leeds. At first it seemed innocuous enough but the severity of the situation became apparent quickly as blood began to pour from his left eye. “At the time, I wasn’t sure the eyeball was still in the socket,” Smith says with a grin on his face.
Smith had returned to his home-town club from Wigan at the beginning of this year before breaking a leg in pre-season. This latest setback, as minor as it first seemed, prompted frustration aplenty in the early stages from the England international. “The initial feeling when you’re sat in that changing room and people are trying to do all sorts to stem the blood is gut-wrenching, [especially] after breaking my leg earlier in the year. My first thought was: ‘When can I play again?’” Smith says.
Quickly, though, things turned serious. “As that night wore on and I was taken to hospital, reality began to kick in and when you’re not able to see that night, you worry about the season, the career and life in general. You worry it’s going to be career-ending – but I was lucky.”
Smith is right: he was lucky. Not only did two separate surgeries in a matter of days save his career, it saved much more than that. “The doctors told me I was actually lucky not to lose my sight, which was a really sobering thing to hear,” he reveals. “The surgeons who operated on me did an absolutely fantastic job and thankfully everything’s OK because it really wasn’t great to deal with when it all happened. For me, I’ve been lucky to get back the way I have done. It’s still not quite right and it’ll take up to six months to improve but it feels good. I can see and it’s not a major problem.”
Now the gruesome part: the extent of what a stray finger actually managed to do. Those of a nervous disposition may be wise to ready themselves. “I lacerated my eyelid; my tear duct and eyeball actually came away from the corner of the socket – it sounds gruesome and I guess it was,” Smith says. “My pupil moved to the corner of my eye and all the blood came through behind my eye, which is why it looked so horrific.
“Amazingly I was told the surgeons actually stitched my eyeball back together – I have no idea how you do something like that. That all happened quickly and then from there I went to an eyelid specialist and got a second operation two days later. Thankfully I was in good hands.”
This interview takes place in the tunnel after St Helens’ recent victory at Castleford – only four weeks on from Smith’s accident. “I can half-see you now, I’m not sure I’d have been able to say that a few weeks ago,” he jokes. Perhaps even more incredibly, Smith is already back playing: having just helped Saints become the first team to win at the Super League leaders in more than a year.
“It went beyond worrying about playing again this season and even playing full-stop at one point,” he admits. “I’m just very fortunate I can crack on with the season and my career as a whole and be thankful it wasn’t as bad as they thought it could have been.”
Smith’s season could yet have a fairytale finish. After St Helens’ disappointing start, which culminated in the departure of their coach, Keiron Cunningham, the club have won eight of their 11 games under his successor, Justin Holbrook, and are now in the play-off places with six games left.
“It’s there for everyone to have a crack at,” Smith says of a potential title challenge. “Let’s see where we end up but playing like this, I think we’re going to take some stopping.”
Yet whatever happens, you get the feeling Smith is just happy to be back on the field with his career – and his sight – intact after a remarkable few weeks.
