When Ben Green returns to play for his beloved Walcha Roos, his full-circle ordeal will have been marked by a swirl of emotions.
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Shock and excruciating pain. That’s what savaged the 26-year-old forward when he sustained a shocking leg injury playing for the Roos against Bundarra at Walcha on August 12.
While making a tackle, Green snapped two bones near the left ankle joint and also dislocated the ankle. At the time, Walcha president Peter Berry said: “It was dislocated at the joint .. it was detached. It was hanging on by the nerves and the skin, by the sounds of it.”
He’s been really positive all the way through it.
- Dianne Green
Green's father, David, the first aid officer at the ground, supported his son’s shattered leg during the agonising wait for an ambulance to arrive. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was dispatched when, Berry said, the ambulance officers “couldn’t get enough drugs into him”.
Positive. That is how Green’s mother, Dianne, the Roos’ merchandise officer last season, describes her boy’s response to the ordeal, even with the recent setback of not being able to return to shearing due to the discomfort.
“He did try shearing just before Christmas but it was too painful,” she said, adding: “It’s been a long haul for him. He’s been really positive all the way through it. The people of Walcha have been wonderful and helped him out, which has been great.”
Green thanked his family and friends and the Walcha community for the emotional and financial support given to him. He also praised the Tamworth Hospital staff who cared for him.
“It’s overwhelming the support from all my family and friends, especially the community,” he said. “They’ve been doing everything they can to look after ya.”
Green will sheer again but is currently driving an excavator. He and his partner, Bek Naylor, have a two-year-old son, Roland-Roy (named after his grandfather and great grandfather).
Determination. That’s another trait Green has displayed over the past four months.
“For sure, yep,” he said in reference to playing again.
“When I asked the doctors about it [playing], they said not within the next couple of years, probably. It’s one of those things – it will be a personal choice, when I think it’s right.”
