Siya Kolisi gives injured club player a big surprise

Siya Kolisi has once again cemented his reputation as one of the more accessible Springbok captains in history, and one Sicelo Ngubo had an experienced to remember as a result.

The 28-year-old has been one with the fans, from joining the crowd in a sing-along to, more recently, paying a surprise visit to the 32-year-old rugby player, who suffered a devastating injury while turning out for his club.

Ngubo has spent weeks in hospital since a serious spinal cord injury, which has rendered him bedridden.

This is after disaster struck while playing in an Easter Rugby Tournament in Op Die Berg near Ceres.

Playing prop for Lovedale Rugby Club, a scrum collapsed early on in the game, with tragic effect, as he suffered a serious neck injury.

On Tuesday, Ngubo was given a reason to smile by Kolisi who, along with two members of The Player’s Fund, paid him a visit at Groote Schuur Hospital, where he is currently in intensive care.

The Player’s Fund is an organisation which aims to help rugby players who have been seriously injured by providing pyschological, emotional and physical support. Ngubo is one of the fund’s newest recipients.

“Since his devastating spinal cord injury, he has been in the ICU at Groote Schuur Hospital and he received news just before the visit that he will soon be moved into a regular ward and then to the Western Cape Rehab Centre to commence an intensive few months of rehabilitation,” the organisation wrote in its website.

“He has regaining some feeling in his upper arms, which he proudly shared with Siya as they had a heart to heart during the visit.

“Sicelo was very touched by the surprise visit and words of encouragement that he received from the Springbok captain.”

The Player’s Fund

According to the Player’s Fund, Ngubo has another passions aside from rugby and, prior to his injury, had been part of a farming collaboration between the Ceres fruit growing region and his home town, Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape.