SA sport is celebrating after receiving four nominations for the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards, the most prestigious honours in sport. Image: Laureus World Sport Awards
New details into Siya Kolisi’s ‘miracle’ injury recovery
Siya Kolisi has revealed new details into his ‘miracle’ injury recovery, which should lead to a top sports comeback award.
SA sport is celebrating after receiving four nominations for the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards, the most prestigious honours in sport. Image: Laureus World Sport Awards
Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi has established himself as an iconic global sports figure, and undoubtedly one of the most inspirational leaders to have ever captained a South African sports side.
Kolisi led the Springboks to a historic World Cup triumph in 2024, but this remarkable chapter to his career could have been completely different if it were not for a quite ‘miraculous’ injury recovery.
The flanker serious injured his left knee in April of last year, and had to undergo intensive rehabilitation to be fit enough to take his place at the head of the team at the global showpiece.
Initial concerns were that he could be ruled out of action for up to nine months, and during a previous interview with SABC Sport, Kolisi admitted he feared the worst.
Siya Kolisi reveals more insight into incredible injury recovery
Now, in the latest interview, Kolisi described how he cancelled one doctor’s appointment, and instead flew to Cape Town for a second opinion. From there, his prognosis quickly changed.
“[I returned after] four months and one day, that was our first game against Wales,” he told TNT Sports pundit Ugo Monye.
“When I got injured in the Sharks game against Munster, I went home and thought I was okay, I still walked around. I went for a scan and they told me, that’s it, nine months.
“I told my wife that it was done, and she burst into tears. She was like, ‘no, it’s not done’.”
On the eve of a crucial operation, Kolisi has how revealed new details into a last-minute decision that changed the course of his recovery.
“I stopped eating that night at 10pm for the operation the next day, but I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t sure about the doctor. He didn’t give me good energy. There was another doctor in Cape Town. I cancelled that appointment and went to Cape Town.
“I had the operation, I didn’t use the brace, I walked out of the hospital. I could bend my knee to 95 degrees,” he said.
“I used crutches probably for three days. I believed because he [the doctor] made me believe. He told me ‘I fixed you, there’s no more’. So I trusted him.
“There was rehab from the second day after the op. Every single day for three months straight, I was doing everything about my knee.”
The Laureus Awards, which honours, recognises and celebrates the world’s greatest athletes, has recently nominated Kolisi for the Comeback of the Year award, and there is good reason to believe that the Springbok captain will walk away with this top accolade.
Faith played its part
When previously sharing other thoughts on the SA Rugby website, Siya Kolisi further shared the importance of mental strength after sustaining the injury.
“I was scared for this one,” admitted Kolisi. “I had a proper surgeon who gave me confidence and my medical team at the Springboks and at the Sharks – when they helped me – were all confident.
“But I was really scared. If it wasn’t for my wife and my family and the people I had around me and the guys who have been through what I’m going through before I would really have struggled.”
