Pwllheli rugby player 'overwhelmed' by spine injury help

Mathew Parry has urged other sportsmen and women to have personal insurance

A rugby player who had emergency spinal surgery said he was overwhelmed by the support he has received.

Mathew Parry damaged his neck during a Welsh club match for Pwllheli RFC against Gwynedd rivals Bethesda last month.

The 34-year-old scaffolder does not know if he will be able to work again and more than £6,500 has already been donated to a fundraising campaign.

He said: "It's been unbelievable. There are so many kind people out there."

Mr Parry was playing outside-half on 15 September when, chasing a kick 35 minutes into the game, a challenge on the ground damaged three of his vertebrae.

He will have to wear a neck brace for months and does not know if the feeling in the left side of his upper body will ever return.

Mr Parry underwent six-hour surgery to repair three damaged vertebra

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He said: "The surgeon said I was very lucky not to be left disabled. So we're just taking it day by day. I can't really look too much into the future."

Mr Parry, of Tregarth, has played rugby since a young boy but could never have imagined the game he loves would change his life in an instant.

"I knew there was something wrong because I was in a lot of pain," he recalled.

"I tried to get back up but I fell straight back down and couldn't move."

Mathew Parry was playing for Pwllheli RFC against his former club Bethesda RFC

His partner Lynne Davies, who was watching from the touchline, said: "I didn't see the injury but when I saw the doctor take a mobile phone out of their pocket, I knew it was serious and that something terrible had happened."

The game was abandoned while Mr Parry was first taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor before being transferred to a trauma unit in Stoke for specialist surgery.

He had dislocated two vertebrae and chipped a third, though the six-hour procedure was deemed a success.

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Now he is recovering at home, in constant pain, and the future remains uncertain.

"He's down because he can't do the things he loves and we don't know if he will ever be able to do those things again," said Ms Davies.

"He was so active before. Now he's in the house doing nothing, unable to do much for himself."

Mr Parry's partner Lynne Davies says the support the family has received has been "amazing"

As well as financial support, he has received messages of support from across the rugby world, including former international players Rupert Moon, Phil Davies and Jacques Burger.

"There are so many kind people out there, people we don't even know who have been brilliant," he said.

"It hasn't changed my outlook on the game. It's a hard game but this doesn't happen every week.

"But I didn't have personal insurance and I'd advise everyone who plays any sport to take out insurance before they step on to that field."