Nastiest Injury you've witnessed....
 

After catching the highlights of the Clippers game and seeing the nausea-inducing replay of Shawn Livingston dislocating his kneecap, it got me to thinking---What's the worst injury you've seen on-court? We had a JV game out this way a couple months ago where two kids cracked heads diving after a loose ball. Both were knocked unconscious and had to be taken to the hospital. That sound was just nasty......

Me dislocating my kneecap in January, of course. To be fair, my kneecap didn't have to be put back into place, though, so my injury paled to his.

I had a player go up for a shot, lost his balance when it was blocked and landed first on his hand, full force, breaking his wrist.

I did a mens league game where a player drove as a post guy stuck out his hand and got him in the face. The guy literally had a hand print on his face, broken nose, eye swollen shut, and lots and lots of blood.

I saw a dislocated ankle. Kid went up on his own and came down wrong without being fouled. His leg was one way, his foot going another. We delayed the game for about 40 minutes. It did not look good.

Peace

Couple years ago, during a timeout, I was standing down on the block. The cheerleaders were behind me doing their routine, one where some of the firls on the floor raise another girl up standing on their hands. And yes, a shriek followed by a thud. Didn't knock her out. Just a little woozy.

And a couple weeks ago, similar thing happened between quarters, although this time it was 2 of these same formations facing back to back. The girl on top of pyramid #1 came down wrong, and the spot girl behind her got knocked over into the legs of one of the girls in the pyramid behind her. Amazingly, they all walked away from that one.

A dislocated elbow: a player jumped to rebound, lost his balance and fell just on his elbow. Terrible to see. I said to just cover him and call an ambulance.

It was before a doctor was required at every major game in Italy; some leagues now require also an ambulance with a defibrillator.

Another strange injury was to my partner in a wheelchair basketball game: his foot went under a wheel. :eek: He couldn't finish the game, but fortunately he had no big damage. I learnt how painful it can be: don't try.

Ciao

I saw this too. It is not a pretty sight to see the bottom of the foot facing to the right instead of down at the floor.
Ironically, they just showed the Livingston highlight and I didn't watch.

On a side note, Tracy McGrady is one of the softest players I have ever seen in the NBA.

Mine
 

The worst injury I have seen happened in a summer camp game. A player was trying to save a ball in the corner and his momentum took him into a post about 8ft off the court. He hit his head on the corner of the post and cut one his arteries in his head. blood was everywhere. Luckily there was a paramedic nearby and he was able to control the bleeding until the ambulance got there.

Guard driving for an uncontested dunk. He decides to finish with a flourish, but the tension on the rim pulls his hand up as his body descends. I saw his arm stretch weirdly at the elbow -- dislocation. When he hit the ground, his ulna was clearly beside the humerus.

I still shiver when I recall it.

I had a Grade 8 Boys game where a kid was running in on a 2 on 1, goes for the layup and gets blocked, clean as a whistle. The force of the block knocks the kid off balance and he fell awkwardly on his hand and arm, SNAP. His arm was bent at 90 degrees right in the middle of his forearm. It was the classic fracture I was taught in Paramedic classes. He had no pain at all, it just looked UGLY. Luckily it was not a compound fracture so no Blood to clean. Delayed the game long enough for someone to get me a splint and by the time I immobed his arm an ambulance was there and took the kid to the hospital to set the break. Talked to the Coaches about continuing the game, the teammates were more disturbed then the young man who was injured. 35 minutes later off we went to finish the game. The kids team lost by 2 points in OT.

Back when I was playing in a mens league, a teammate goes up for a layup and was pushed from behind. He landed awkwardly on one leg, and "pop" goes his Achilles tendon. His calf rolled up like a window shade behind his knee, leaving him screaming in pain on the floor.
He was one of the best players I've ever seen, but he never played again.

This one is football but nothing I've seen has ever topped it. Not even Joe Theisman's leg looked as bad as this, In practice an Iowa State running back in about 1975 or so was running down field and slightly left and then cut back off his left foot and turned back towards the right. When he planted his right foot it happened to be against the grain of the astro-turf and got caught up and it got stuck in the turf. His momentum then took his upper body over the top of his stuck foot and his upper body then sort of rolled over the top of his own leg. His knee then hyper extended a complete 90 degrees the opposite direction that it should be before the foot became unstuck. In other words if he had been sitting normally in a chair his foot and toes would be staring back at him in the face. The doctors thought for awhile to just go ahead and amputate but they didn't.

The trainer had the film and also made four still pictures from the negatives which is how you can see the full 90 degrees. It was brutal.

The worst I've witnessed was a girl dislocating her kneecap.

I was in college and we had a 7 footer on our team who wasn't very coordinated.

He went up for a dunk, dunked the ball but got his front two teeth tangled in the net (You couldn't make this one up). You can imagine what happened on the way down.....Crack....two teeth go flying and blood all over.

Recovered the teeth but were broken at the root so they had to be removed and new, artificial teeth put back in......

back in my playing days
 

This happened when I was still in high school, probably during a JV game.

A kid from the other team went running after a loose ball out of bounds. He slapped the ball back into play and his momentum carried him toward one of the exit doors. He put his hands out to protect himself, but his right arm went straight throught the little plate glass window in the door. The remaining upper half of the sheet of glass slid down and cut through his bicep right down to the bone. I was a clean cut of all the muscle and ligament tissue. He pulled his arm out and blood was squirting everywhere. Combine that with everyone in the gym freaking out, it was a pretty intense experience. We stopped the game for almost an hour while we waited for clean-up and medical services. The kid didn't play again for roughly 2 years while he rehabed.

I was doing an IM game about 2 or 3 years ago, guy gets trapped in the corner and he slips and his legs go out from underneath him. His kneecap ended up almost on the backside of his leg. I saw him a week later...he tore everything in his knee....ACL, MCL, PCL, and patella tendon.

Varsity boys a few weeks ago. A driving basket, B gets called for a block as both players fall to floor. B tries to break his fall and I watch as his forearm zigs, then zags. Talked to AD following week. Broken in 3 places with 4 pins and multiple screws. Nastiest looking thing I have seen.

Second was when coaching. Player banged knees with D while scrimaging and dislocated kneecap. That was tough to look at. Also - was at end of practice and we were supposed to have parent conferences in the gym that night. We made them hold off on bringing in the tables/chairs etc until after the paramedics had taken her away. YUK!

At times this year, I felt like offering a pregame instruction that anyone who breathes on another player would be called for a foul.

First week of January, a BJV player saves a ball at the scorers table and glances off it. He falls to the floor as the opposing team steals the save and goes the other way. He can't get up so as T, I stand with him and notice that he has what looks to be a deep cut below his knee -- but no blood. The other team shoots, misses and the ball starts coming our way. I blow my whistle and now looking more closely, realize it's a compound fracture. The trainer rushes him to ER.

Ten days later, a loose ball has two BV players diving...one comes up screaming and we find out later, he's broken his elbow.

First week of February, the leading scorer in the area goes up to block a shot and comes down on a much smaller kid under the basket. There's just a few minutes left in a third quarter blowout.

He screams, falls toward me out of bounds under the basket. I grab him to keep him from falling face first into me but his right leg is broken in two places. 65 minutes for EMS.

As I said, I'm rethinking my pregame.

Thanks, guys. I've now officially lost my appetite for lunch. :D

The worst I've seen (and heard) is an achilles tear as well. Player was driving the lane, stepped on another foot, and we heard the "pop". The worst part was when his teammates picked him to take him off the floor, his foot just sort of dangled there. I don't believe I had dinner after that game either...

Kind of makes the girl who asked me for an "injury timeout" because she broke a nail seem rather silly when you put it in perspective.

I've seen several - one kid that was playing for me when I coached was knocked to the ground face first - there was a kid that fell over top of him (other team). On tape you can see the kid look at my player under him and WHAM! he just dropped his whole (large) body on his head and completely smashed his front teeth. There was a fine white powder around his lips from what was his teeth!

In high school a teammate in practice went up for a layup and was fouled and came down on his ankle. His foot ended up at a 90 degree angle with a "ball" where his foot was. It was completely gross.

Of course I didn't see this one - but it was pretty devistating this past April when I completely ruptured my achilles tendon umpiring a college softball game! It rolled up in my calf and of course the foot just laying there doing nothing. (Refraining from an exwife story here!)

I was coaching, and one of my players went to block out the defender, the defender side stepped her and gave her a little tug, and my player went rolling into her teammate. The teammates knee hyperextended well beyond the "oh that's a hyperextended knee" reaction to the "oh my gawd, it's not supposed to bend like that" reaction. Amazingly, no tears, just sprained.

I've witnessed two players go head first into a brick wall - mine walked away and did not play the rest of the weekend, the other was carted off in an ambulance (later found out she was ok). The noise that makes is just scarry.

Also walked into a gym, where everyone was just standing around. Puzzled, I look around and saw a girl laying on the court with her hip dislocated.

I saw a college player go up to block a shot and hit his head on the backboard. It knocked him out and he fell to the floor limp. It was scary for the fans. But he was O.K. didn't play the rest of the game.

Also at a game I was refereeing, the cheerleaders were in the cornor practicing and I looked at them and thought, " That is just an accident waiting to happen" I turned away when they tossed the girl into the air....they didn't catch her...It was terrible, but again she was o.k.

Reading thru the other posts kept reminding me of several injuries I've witnessed. Deciding which is worst would be tough but I know my injury was the most painful to me.

1. The time the cheerleader flyer (the one they throw) did not get caught and I saw her head bounce off the floor during a timeout.

2. The time I was in the lead and had a 1 on 1 post matchup. A1 ducked left as B! brought his hand up to bat the ball away. He stuck his thumb in the corner of A1's eye socket up to the first knuckle. That one made my eyes hurt and still does.

3. Early November 2005, I was coaching my son's team and we were running a play. Someone's little brother was on the sideline and let a ball roll out onto the court. I jumped over it, lost my balance and went into the brick wall which was pretty close to the baseline. I stuck my hands up to catch myself and ended up breaking the radial head in both elbows. I'm still dealing with that one although it only caused me to miss 1 assignment in the 2 years.

:D I havent seen nothing bad other than a bloody nose.

I had a teammate once who dislocated his shoulder about every other game his senior year. It was a football injury that started it all. Nothing compares, though, to the stuff I've read here. Glad I'm done with lunch.

Just thought of a couple that happened to a buddy of mine in South Carolina. He was actually a ref that scheduled my officials for my HS team I coached. He actually had a guy loose a finger on a dunk! Men's league and the idiot kept his wedding ring on which got stuck on the rim and according to my friend - stayed up on the rim after the dunk.

Same year - a guy came off the court from shooting FT's. Gave everyone on the bench high 5's. Sat down on the bench, put a towel on his head and DIED! Not gross, but certainly very traumatic!

I've seen mucho blood from a head injury, a ring finger momentarily caught in the net, and a dislocated ankle.....but, I certainly can not get into a battle of "can you top this" with you guys!

Eye sockets? Feet pointed in the wrong direction? Missing teeth? Severed arteries? Dislocated knees?

I gotta call my assignor and get more game.......! :eek:

But seriously, I hope I never witness anything that would make me want to add to this list.

Fortunately the worst I've seen was a girls JV team in their first game ever at a new High School. First time down the court the point guard hits her head into the back of another girl's head. Broken nose and blood spatter everywhere. This girl was their expected best player and was done for the season.

This was football but happened to me. 7th grade about 5.5 years ago I got my thumb caught in a facemask and both went to the ground. When I was able to pull it out my thumb just flopped back behind onto the top of my hand. For some reason I was in no real pain just some normal pain but after a trip to the Emergency room I found out I had a break and cut the main tendon that runs from the wrist into the thumb in half along with the other tendons. 3 months after surgry and hours of physical therapy, yes they happen to have hand therapists my thumb was strong as heck but I still could not move it. They finnaly found out after sticking the needle that had some kind of mic in it up and done my arm and hand like 25-30 times that the nerves were not shooting right, well after one more surgry and lots more PT I got back full use of my thumb. O yeah did I mention I am one of the only people in the world with a perfectly straight thumb, no more natural curve because of how they had to set things in the first surgury.

Dislocated Elbow
 

Girls varsity game in a small, very rural town. Player falls and dislocates her elbow. She's lying in the middle of the lane, crying out in pain. Someone called 911, but, being a rural town, it took the ambulance about 15 minutes to get to the school. For the whole 15 minutes, the girls just kept screaming. No one, correctly, tried to move her. We sent both teams to their benches and waited. After the paramedics came, it took them about 15 more minutes to strap her into a gurney, with her screaming the entire time. After the ambulance left, we allowed the teams to warm up for a few minutes before restarting the game. By the way, my partner went into the lobby and got a hot dog from the concession stand while we waited.

Not an injury, but an ilness
 

GF game a few years ago. Coach informs me that one girl had a medical problem and sometimes passes out. I was like "you're kidding, right?". He said no, this is the last year she can play and sometimes her heart stops and she just passes out. If it happens, just stop play, and she will come around in a few minutes.

Sure enough, about half way through the 3rd qtr, she just drops like she's dead. We stop play, the trainers come around and do their thing, and about 5 minutes later she's back up. Scariest thing I ever saw on the court.

She didn't come back in, of course.

Girls Jr. High basketball, believe it or not. B girl goes after A dribbler and she smacks heads with A. B girl cuts her head open, blood on the floor, other little darlins are freaking out because of the blood. So she was taken to the hospital and got both stitches and the personal foul.

In 1973 I saw a kid pitching in a HS baseball game throw a breaking ball and his forearm just snapped, his right arm dangling for a couple seconds that seemed to last just about forever. I still get little sick thinking about it 34 years later.

I didn't see this next one but it made the local news...a year or two earlier in another HS baseball game as a kid slid into 3rd the 3rd baseman applied the tag inadvertantly (I hope) into the slider's the throat, crushing his larynx. A former Army medic in Vietnam was at the game and he rushed out and did a tracheotomy on the kid right there at 3rd base saving the kid's life. Memory tells me the medic was the slider's father but I'm not sure about that.

Talking baseball, I do some student training at school and are school had a Varsity track meet and a JV baseball game so I was to " watch" the baseball game while the trainer was down at the track meet. A placer comes in for a play at the plate, the catcher has the plate blocked and is going to apply the tag when the kid slides into him. One of the bones in his leg goes sticking out and blood everywhere. I call the Trainer up ASAP ( or STAT if u like medicial terms) and tried to cover the open wound while pushing on the pressure point in the upper leg right to the side of the crotch. The ambulance came soon took him away and I never heard what happened.

A few years ago in a JV game I worked a kid got tripped up while going in for a layup and came down awkward and braced himself with his right arm. He dislocated his elbow and it was bent 45 degrees the wrong way. By far the nastiest thing I have seen in any sport.