Tamaiti Williams is beginning to see light at the end of a brutal health battle, but the All Blacks prop remains without a return date after a superbug threatened his career.
The 27-Test loosehead prop has not played since February after contracting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which infected a disc in his spine.
Williams spent about four months in hospital across multiple stints after the infection returned, eventually undergoing surgery to fuse part of his spine.
“It pretty much settled in my disc in my back and ate away my disc, really.” Williams said on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast.
“Have you ever seen a tree on fire? How the inside of the tree burns first, that’s pretty much what happened to my spine.
“I got real sick, I almost got sepsis twice. One of the first things they told me was I might be in a wheelchair. We love rugby, right, but I like walking, too.”
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The 26-year-old initially believed he had injured his back during the Crusaders’ Super Rugby clash against the Chiefs in Hamilton before the pain became unbearable.
“I was rolling around in bed, 10 out of 10 pain, arguing with my wife not to go to the hospital. My mum gave me a call and said, ‘I’m going to call the police if you don’t go to the hospital’.”
Williams dropped from about 140kg to 122kg during his hospital stays and struggled with the effects of powerful antibiotics and pain medication.
The infection returned after seven weeks of antibiotics through a PICC line, prompting surgeons to operate.
Four screws were inserted to fuse his T12 and L1 vertebrae, stabilising his spine and allowing it to heal.
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Williams remains on oral antibiotics until mid-October and is currently limited to walking as he works with the Crusaders’ medical team.
“We don’t have a date, but it’s more like do a six-week block of training, get some scans and have another meeting, see how it’s going,” he said.
Williams has been tentatively cleared to start running when the Crusaders begin pre-season in November.
“It’s going to be a long pre-season. I’m ready, I’m keen to get going. I haven’t done a pre-season since 2021, my first year.”
Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images
The post Superbug ‘ate away’ All Black’s spinal disc appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Tamaiti Williams is beginning to see light at the end of a brutal health battle, but the All Blacks prop remains without a return date after a superbug threatened his career.
The post Superbug ‘ate away’ All Black’s spinal disc appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
