London (AFP)
Notice, "this is only the tip of the iceberg": seriously injured in the neck three months ago, the New Zealand second line Michael Fatialofa managed to regain the use of his legs but remains aware that the There is still a long way to go before a full recovery.
"What is the most difficult for me at the moment is to succeed in regaining my motor functions at the level of the hands. With my left hand, I can do almost nothing", explained the rugby player to the New Zealand website 1 News.
Fatialofa, 28, suffered a spinal cord injury, a serious and life-threatening injury, after a shock received on January 7 during a match in the English league, with Worcester, against the Saracens who had resulted in an ambulance evacuation.
After two weeks in intensive care, the sportsman is now able to walk without outside help, a healing that his wife had described as "miraculous" at the end of March.
"I couldn't feel anything below my neck," recalls Fatialofa.
"It was pretty scary, and I was really out of breath because my spinal cord was compressed and everything below it was affected and that included my lungs. I was just trying to breathe (...) I heard people die next to me. It was pretty traumatic, "he said.
Fatialofa, whose contract with Worcester ends in July, plans to continue his rehabilitation in Britain, before returning to New Zealand.
© 2020 AFP