Moranbah Bulls’ player Sam Varley breaks back in Mackay rugby game

Moranbah Bulls’ player Sam Varley heard his back breaking in a rugby union game last weekend and couldn’t move his leg. Now, with the arrival of his first child just weeks away, he reveals his prognosis from a hospital bed.

Moranbah Bulls' player Sam Varley suffered a broken back in a rugby game last weekend.

As he lay prone on a Mackay footy field, Sam Varley had a “gut feeling” he had broken his back.

The 26-year-old mine supervisor couldn’t help but think the worst, especially with his partner Angela expecting their first child in about nine weeks.

The Moranbah Bulls’ winger was on the ground after retrieving a loose ball in his team’s rugby clash against Slade Point when an opposition player accidentally fell on him.

“I heard a loud crunch, a cracking sound,” Sam recalls of the incident last Saturday afternoon at Cathy Freeman Oval.

Moranbah Bulls' player Sam Varley suffered a broken back in a rugby game last weekend.

“I had a bit of pain in the back… and I knew pretty much straight away it wasn’t good.

“I noticed I couldn’t move my left leg and I was concerned about whether or not I’d ever be able to move it again.”

A medical team assessed him while teammates and Bulls’ club president Teran McCasker stayed by his side, trying to comfort him until an ambulance arrived.

The 26-year-old was transferred to Mackay Base Hospital where a CT scan revealed his L2 and L3 vertebrae were broken.

An MRI two days later showed he had also fractured T3 and T4.

A long-time rodeo rider and motocross competitor, Sam had had his fair share of broken bones.

Sam Varley is a member of the Moranbah Motocross Club.

He also broken his neck in a car accident in 2017 but the thought of a serious spinal injury rocked him as he considered what impending fatherhood was going to look like.

“I’m no stranger to a stay in the hospital but as far as news you want to get from doctors, it’s probably up there with some of the worst,” he said.

“I was hoping it might have been a rib or a bit of bone bruising but that wasn’t the case.

“I wasn’t overly thrilled about hearing it.”

Sam Varley has ridden horses and rodeoed for a big part of his life.

Thankfully, though, Sam received a welcome diagnosis from doctors.

“They’re stable fractures so they should heal themselves as long as I don’t do anything to upset them,” he said.

“It’s just bed rest until the vertebrae start healing, bonding back together, before I can start physio and traction to get me up and walking around again.

“My leg should get back to 100 percent at some point too but they’re just not sure whether it will be hours or days or weeks.

“After six to eight months, I should be back to as normal as I’ll get after this.

“I’ve got a meeting with the physio on Tuesday so I’ll get a better idea of the timeframe then.”

Sam Varley is an active young man who loves the outdoors.

Sam said telling Angela about the initial diagnosis on Sunday morning wasn’t the greatest conversation he’d ever had.

She flew to Mackay to be with him before he was transferred on Thursday back to Moranbah Hospital, where he is confined to bed rest until rehab starts.

Teran said Sam’s club-mates were all breathing a sigh of relief now the prognosis was as good as it could be.

Sam was playing just his second game with the Bulls after relocating from Dysart to Moranbah at the end of last year.

“It was a very unfortunate incident which was potentially life-changing,” Teran said.

“Sam and I have become pretty close since he started playing with us this season.

Moranbah's Sam Varley loved getting outdoors.

“He’s always willing to help out, and the first to put his hand up if something needs doing.

“He’s a very good clubman and all-round good bloke.”

Teran has started a gofundme page for Sam, which has raised almost $2500.

Sam said it was a wonderful gesture and he was humbled by people’s generosity.

He is now focused on his rehab, eternally grateful he should make a full recovery.

He is also counting down to the day he welcomes his baby.

“I’m bloody keen for that, I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“It’s all new to me but fatherhood’s going to be off to a bit of a slow start.”

Originally published as Moranbah Bulls’ player Sam Varley breaks back in Mackay rugby game