‘Chop off my thumb’: Harry Garside’s crazy sacrifice to keep his Paris dreams alive

Nothing will get in the way of Harry Garside’s golden Paris dream with the star boxer sensationally offering to amputate his thumb if it meant he could still go to the Olympics.

Harry Garside is so determined to win gold at the Paris Olympics, he offered to amputate his thumb.

One of the stars of Australia’s Tokyo campaign, the boxing bronze medallist spoke to his surgeon about chopping off his left thumb as he prepared for a recent bout of hand surgery.

Garside fractured his thumb six weeks ago during combat with a Brazilian contingent at Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport and there were fears the injury could wipe him out of July’s Paris Games.

The 26-year-old shared similar fears and at the height of his concern, Garside was prepared to do whatever it took to fight for gold at Paris, including limb amputation.

“A gold medal is way more important to me than my thumb, I can tell you that right now,” Garside said.

“Most fighters would have that mindset.

An X-ray of Garside’s thumb.

“I have a great relationship with my surgeon, Dr Jason Harvey, and I sent him a photo of my fracture and said, ‘What is the best thing to do?’

“I said to him, ‘Mate, chop off my thumb if you have to. I don’t care about the thumb, I just want to be able to fight at the Olympics’.

“The doc just laughed at me and said it will take me longer to heal if I chopped my thumb off.

“He got me in super quick for keyhole surgery and I’ve had a great recovery.”

All eyes will be on Garside at Paris.

The razor-sharp Melbourne lightweight won Australia’s first boxing medal in 33 years when he claimed bronze at Tokyo after winning three bouts to reach the semi-final stage.

Garside’s Paris campaign suffered a scare in mid-March when he busted his hand at the AIS, but insists he’s in no danger of missing the Olympics.

Harry Garside won bronze in Tokyo. Picture: Getty Images

“There was no moment in the fight where I thought I’ve done an injury, it was only after the fight when the adrenaline wore off,” he said.

“I didn’t think it was a fracture, then I woke up and couldn’t text on my phone. Something wasn’t right.

“It was only a small fracture. I probably could have fought on with it but if I kept punching it would have kept cracking and the damage would have gotten bigger and bigger.

“There’s no dramas at all for the Olympics. I’m good to go.

“Tendons and ligaments are worse, they take forever to heal.

“I went to the last Olympics with a fully snapped ligament in the index finger on my left hand.

“I couldn’t throw it for three months before the Tokyo Olympics and it was very frustrating.

“But this time it’s only been three weeks off and I’m back sparring and doing pads which is great.

“I’ve got a couple of screws in there, I think it’s stronger than before so I’m stoked.”

The thought of fighting with only four fingers sounds like a major hindrance. But Garside is not so sure.

“I’ve had this discussion with someone in the boxing world when I thought about chopping it (his thumb) off,” he said.

“I don’t think it would have affected me because all you need is the four main knuckles.

“The thumb is just an accessory really in a fighting sense.

“I reckon it would be a blessing in a way because you wouldn’t have problems like I’ve had breaking it.

“The surgery was not ideal, I’d rather it not happen, but it hasn’t been too disruptive.”

Originally published as ‘Chop off my thumb’: Harry Garside’s crazy sacrifice to keep his Paris dreams alive