None was more stunning than De La Salle Va’a, a 19-year-old rugby league player who dove into the shallow end of the pool. He survived a horrific medical crisis to make it. The Roosters’ reserve grade side welcomed back the 200 cm, 121 kg player during a match in Gosford on Saturday, where he played for 40 minutes. Va’a’s road to return to the game would be a story of resilience and determination by any measure.
In the weeks before his comeback, Va’a was forced to overcome severe health obstacles. After an otherwise harmless collision in a scrimmage, he ended up with a badly bruised lung that developed a dangerous infection. This caused the infection to progress to complications, making his lung fill with pus and fluid. He recounted his experience, stating, “I copped a whack in a trial game and bruised my lung; it got infected with a staph infection and it ended up filling my lung with pus and fluid.”
The complexities of his illness left no option other than a hospitalization and eventually open lung surgery. The young athlete described the ordeal, saying, “I had a couple of drains and those didn’t work so I had to get open lung surgery which was pretty serious.” For two weeks, he struggled to breathe properly, expressing the difficulty he faced: “My lungs were full and I could hardly breathe for two weeks.”
Va’a’s recovery was not easy. He was out of action for three months and during that time became bedridden, losing 12 kg. In the midst of this, he suffered from terrifying symptoms, like coughing up blood. “I was coughing up straight-up blood for about a week, that was painful and pretty scary,” he reflected.
Despite all of these obstacles, Va’a has now fully recovered, getting back to a healthy playing weight. Xavier, his 21-year-old brother Xavier, was making national news just recently. He scored after only 45 seconds into his NRL debut against Cronulla. Fighters who both trained at the same gym as them in Australia’s birth city, alongside emerging prodigies Justis Huni and Jai Opetaia.
Tri-colours coach Trent Robinson was relieved and delighted at Va’a’s re-tread success as the rooster. He acknowledged the rarity of such recoveries in professional sports, stating, “You can make your whole career and never get one of those.”
