Gold Coast rugby league star Kevin Proctor has opened up on the accidental elbow from a teammate during training that could have ended in him suffocating to death.
Proctor was rushed to hospital after a stray elbow from recruit Brenko Lee caught the former Melbourne forward flush in the throat.
Initially, he thought nothing of the contact and got up to continue training.
"I remember having a drink of water and I could feel the bones in there cracking. I said, 'Oh no, that's not good," Proctor recalled.
"Then I was coughing up blood and I said, 'That's not good either. Our trainer just goes, 'Jump in the car and we'll go to the hospital.' They scanned it, and it was pretty serious."
Scans revealed three fractures to his throat, and Proctor immediately remembered how a similar incident forced former Newcastle utility Rory Kostjasyn into early retirement last year.
Like Proctor, Kostjasyn was on the wrong end of an accidental hit to the throat but the ex-North Queensland rake also had a dislocation of his vocal chords.
Proctor said it was the first question he had for the doctor when he arrived at the ICU in late January.
"That's all I was thinking about to be honest. As soon as the doc came out, I said, 'Am I going to be able to play footy again'," he said.
"And they said, 'Yeah'. As soon as they said that, I just calmed down. I don't care that I have a husky voice aye. My missus actually likes it."
Proctor turned down the option of having immediate surgery on his voice, which would have resulted in him missing up to nine weeks of the season.
Instead, the 29-year-old will undergo the procedure at the end of his career.
"It feels sweet at the moment, there's no blockage of the airways. I'll probably do that after I finish my footy career and we'll see how we go there," he said.
The dramatic episode is the latest in a turbulent start to Proctor's career at the Titans, which included his banning from the New Zealand team following last year's drug scandal.
The incident also forced the Titans to strip him of the captaincy in a season where he also battled shoulder and hamstring injuries.
Now he intends to pay the club back for a horror campaign, and put himself back in contention for a recall to the international arena with the Kiwis.
"I've got a point to prove this year. I owe it to my family, the Titans, the club, the fans, even my country. I let so many people down," he said.
"It was the worst thing that could happen. But now I look at things a lot differently and I won't take it for granted anymore. I'll never put myself in that position again."
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