Further to this - as a result of a sliding tackle (both of us going in hard) the defender's studs raked the inside of my thigh after a collision of some force. The consequence was that some time later when I was in South Africa, my GP was horrified at the huge size of the varicose vein that had developed, which wound itself down my right leg from thigh to ankle. He said that there was a severe risk of clotting, which could kill me instantly at any time.
And he played hell about the NHS when he learned that they had taken a look at it and metaphorically just shrugged their shoulders and told me to grin and bear it. I guess that's the difference that private health insurance offers, which was the norm in South Africa.It was deemed so serious that they operated the following day. In those times, removal of a troublesome varicose vein usually took about 20 minutes to accomplish with two incisions. Mine took them 2 hours to remove with no less than 11 incisions that required a total of 44 stiches.
I've lost count of the injuries, torn muscles and other things that my poor pegs suffered back in the bad old days and to this day, I still carry the scars as a reminder - so much so that I'm prepared to bet that I possess the ugliest pair of legs on this forum by a long, long way.
