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A prop who had a stroke following an onfield neck injury is suing his former union and the doctor that treated him on the field.
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Former Blue Bulls prop Morne Mellett was forced to retire after suffering stroke following an incident onfield incident in 2015.
He is now suing the union, and team doctor Herman Rossouw, who treated on that day, for R45 million Rand (£2.5million). He claims Dr Rossouw cleared him to play on after the player sustained a hit to the neck.
The prop suffered vertebral artery dissection in July of 2015 and was ruled out of rugby for the remainder of the year. Medical advice suggested that the then 26-year old player call it a day.
A medical report that was read out at court read: “Immediately after the game, Mellett was off balance, couldn’t feel his fingers and was unable to describe to doctors what (was) wrong. A few hours after the game, he suffered a stroke.”
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Mellett’s lawyer described the prop’s dreams have been ‘taken away’.
“His dream to play rugby was taken away in an instant and now he has to walk around with the knowledge that he can die at any moment because of the blood clot,” he said.
The Bulls will contest the case.
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Mellett represented Valke at Craven Week in 2006 and 2007 and started playing for the Blue Bulls U19’s in 2007.
He represented the Bulls in 37 matches in the Super Rugby competition and 10 times in the Currie Cup. He also played for UP-Tuks in the Varsity Cup and represented the Junior Springboks at the 2009 Junior World Championship.
