A FRIEND and team mate of recuperating Forster Tuncurry Hawks’ player Curtis Landers has told of his mate’s bravery on the day he was injured.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Port City Breakers player Charles Finnerty has described Curtis as a strong and inspirational person.
“I’d never seen anyone play like him. He had the guts. He was happy to tackle someone bigger than me any day - he’d just go straight for the legs - get them down straight away,” Charles says of his close mate.
The pair formed an instant bond three years ago when they were chosen for the Group 3 Junior Rugby League representative team.
And the next three years of victories and near-wins saw them grow even closer.
But on May 24, an injured Charles stood on the sideline in Port Macquarie cheering for the Hawks with a broken arm.
Related coverage - Curtis moved to children's hospital...click here
Like most other games, Curtis was a stand-out that day. Focused, determined and eyes cast ahead on the play.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when he drove in for a tackle metres from where Charles stood.
But nothing could have prepared anyone for what was to take place.
That single defining moment may have marked the instant a 15-year-old boy’s dreams came crashing down like the weight that would see his neck broken in two places.
“I’m not moving,” Curtis told Charles who was one of the first to kneel by his side.
His friend’s shallow breathing, his struggle to speak and the worried look on his face was a nightmare unfolding in front of Charles’ eyes.
“At that stage I was thinking, ‘he’ll be right he’s tough like that’ then he said ‘I heard two cracks’.”
But this couldn’t be happening to Curt, Charles thought. Not to one of the most promising football players to come out of his club. Not to his mate, that never had a bad word to say about anyone.
“Because of how much football we played together and how I saw him play he wouldn’t be the kind of kid to get hurt like that,” Charles says.
“He knows how to keep his body in the right position so he doesn’t. It was just a freak accident that’s a bit more apparent now.”
Charles can still see the ambulance doors close on his frightened friend staring back at him. Soon after, a helicopter took him straight to emergency at the Royal North Shore Hospital.
From there, he was placed in intensive care and put on breathing tubes.
Doctors assessed the damage to his C2 and C3 vertebrae and found fortunately that his spine had not been severed.
Forster Tuncurry Hawks’ junior coaching mentor Warren Blissett said Curtis was now “settling in” at the Children’s Hospital in Westmead where he is undergoing further rehabilitation.
“As you can imagine, he’s gone from the intensive care unit with a halo around his head and nurses waiting on him hand and foot to now being able to sit up and speak and boss his dad Ned around,” Mr Blissett said.
“It could be months before we know what the extent of the damage is. He’s not even three weeks into his journey.
“He’s got a very, very small amount of movement and feeling in different places.”
Charles says being in the Children’s Hospital will help Curtis cope better.
“He’ll be back up and running,” Charles says with conviction.
“He won’t slow down at all - I can see him - he wouldn’t want to be in the hospital too long.”
Gold coin jersey day
TO coincide with State of Origin game two tonight (June 18), local schools and businesses are being urged to wear a footy jersey today and donate gold coins for the Curtis Landers appeal.
Leading the cause in Port Macquarie is Port City Breakers player and Curtis’ good friend Charles Finnerty, who says “he needed to do something for his mate.”
“It’s such a tragedy. I was thinking we need to help out somehow, just to add some comfort at this time.”
For more information about Curtis’ appeal visit: www.juniorhawks.com.au