Wesley keeps walking

Wesley Scougal’s life changed on October 20, 2007 when he broke his neck during a rugby match in Uruguay.

The rugby player from Selcourt was on a rugby tour to Uruguay as part of the TUKS Rugby academy.

During a rugby match against a Uruguayan side, Wesley jogged onto the field as a substitute. “It wasn’t even five minutes after I came onto the field as scrumhalf, after a line out I tried to dummy their scrumhalf, eventually getting caught up in a maul and that’s when the maul collapsed”, says Wesley.

Wesley remembers feeling his neck bend forward while the maul exerted more pressure on it, and that’s when he heard his neck break.

After the referee blew the whistle, Wesley remained stationary on the ground.

“I remember struggling to breath, and when they turned me on my back, I kept asking where my legs were.”

Whether it was luck, fate or good fortune, one of Wesley’s friend’s father, Flippie Reed, a qualified paramedic, was on tour with the group when the incident happened.

Flippie used the inside of his knees to cradle Wesley’s head until medical personnel could arrive.

“I remember telling the people around me to pray for me.”

Wesley spent two weeks in a Uruguayan hospital; the doctors told him that he would never walk again.

During his stay at the hospital, Wesley’s parents were notified about what had happened.

“They had just been settling down to watch the rugby world cup final that evening”, says Wesley.

He eventually caught a SAA flight to a Johannesburg hospital.

“SAA personnel reserved three seats on a flight home for me.”

Arriving at Unitas Hospital in Pretoria, the South African doctors were not hopeful either on Wesley’s condition.

His recovery at the hospital was slow but it had led to the point that he was transferred to a Riverfield Lodge, a rehabilitation facility in Fourways.

There he spent six weeks recovering and trying to walk. Only after 30 days of intense therapy was he able to take his first steps, for the second time in his life.

“I did not give up, even though I had gone through this incident, my mind was not affected, I had a strong will, not accepting what both sets of doctors told me.”

“The rehabilitation was hard, I was very weak, my recovery progressed from a bed, to a wheelchair, to a walking ring and crutches.”

Wesley’s parents had supported him throughout his ordeal, travelling every day to the rehabilitation centre to see him during his six week stay.

Wesley’s dream was to play rugby on a professional level, after the accident and his recovery, Wesley’s coached a Springs Boys’ High rugby team, and he eventually decided to get his drafting certificate.

When asked what has changed about his life since the accident, he explained, “I have found more meaning in life than sport, ego and parties, through this experience I have found God even though my will power was not affected, the experience made my family and I closer.”

Wesley still lives with remnants of the accident, with metal plates keeping part of his neck stable.

Even so, Wesley still plays sport in his free time, but doctors have stressed that he may only participate in non-contact sports.

This does not deter him as he plays regularly on Saturdays for a social soccer side at Springs Old Boys Club.

Despite the sporting accident, Wesley’s determination to walk, a supportive family structure and divine intervention are all responsible for Wesley’s recovery.

“I might not have the sporting skills I use to have before my accident, but from a bad situation something brighter and better came out of it, I look at my life in a new way.”