I felt sick because of the way people came to his aid after the fact. ... The way Smith, who was suspected to have broken his neck, was rag dolled from his back into the recovery position.
Yes, there was the chance of Smith suffocating himself with his tongue, or, worse yet, swallowing it. But what if the poor guy had broken his neck? Yanking him into the recovery position probably would have done even more damage to his neck.
Coincidentally, the next morning a show called Attitude, which is a documentary-style show about people living with disabilities, continued its series following a young Christchurch teenager, Cody Everson, who broke his neck playing rugby.
It followed Everson's progress from the spinal unit and into his new form of sport - wheelchair rugby.
In 2003, a Jerry Collins bone-cruncher knocked Wales captain Colin Charvis out cold, and the All Blacks scooped up possession and went on the attack.
But, Tana Umaga stopped playing to assist Charvis, taking his mouthguard out and putting him in the recovery position to avoid choking. From my memory, and I was at a very impressionable age at the time, Umaga's heroics weren't quite as rough or jerky as what happened to Smith last week.
While Charvis wasn't a neck injury concern, the initial reaction of Umaga was to get his fingers into Charvis' mouth to stop him from swallowing tongue and mouthguard.
Why I found Smith's scenario so sickening is that I play wheelchair rugby with people who haven't been as lucky as Smith, McKendry and Witcombe.
Becoming a quadriplegic is more than just not being able to walk, in fact that's probably one of the least concerning factors. Hand function is lost, bowel function is severely altered, and strength in all limbs is depleted.
While one's life is changed forever through a serious neck injury, not all is lost. Wheelchair rugby is a sport played by people all over the world, and in a lot of cases proves beneficial for rehab as there is a release - a chance to release the frustration built up with suffering such a life-changing injury.
Take McKendry as an example, he was dubbed a "hard man" for playing on - but really? Yes, he wasn't aware of the potentially serious nature of his injury, but, the media should not be pumping up his actions as being heroic. "Lucky" is what I'd say.
Same goes for Smith. He's lucky he didn't do any damage to his neck, otherwise those who were there to help him could have hurt him even more.
Having said that, does that mean there needs to be more education given to players on what to do if someone does potentially have a neck injury?
If you'd like to know more about wheelchair rugby, go to wheelblacks.com or search Wheel Blacks on Facebook.
