Rugby: Barrell gets a real pain in the neck

By Chris Rattue

Jason Barrell tries to hold on to the belief that he might return to the rugby field. But for the Super 12 and NPC prop it is more a matter of hope than reality.

At the age of 29, his career is certainly over, ended when he broke his neck during Auckland's warm-up match against Northland in his old home town of Whangarei last week.

Barrell suffered the injury at Lowe Walker Stadium (or Okara Park), where he watched so many games as a kid and made his name as a tough-scrummaging provincial prop.

Barrell - who returned from Wales this year to play for Auckland - snapped his odontoid peg, the bone which holds the head to the vertebrae. It is known as "hangman's fracture".

He was propping against Nicky White, a good mate from his days with the Northland team, and they were about to disengage when Barrell felt the pain.

"I'm lucky to be alive ... that's what the doctors told me," said Barrell, who was discharged from Whangarei Hospital this week.

"They said it was not the sort of neck injury where you lose feeling in your limbs. With this one, you either live or die."

Maybe the injury was the result of a previous rugby accident. Who knows for sure.

It came early in the match and Barrell, while feeling the "crunch", still felt good enough to pack down in another scrum. He was then helped from the field, and the seriousness of the situation began to bite.

"I've been in scrums which have collapsed or where you're twisted and you feel the pressure and think 'oh no, have I broken it?'," says Barrell, the brother of former All Black prop Con Barrell.

"But Nicky and I were in good position and nothing really happened although it made a heck of a crunch.

"When I walked off I was thinking I'd probably have a bit of a rest and go back on. But when I sat down I couldn't move my head.

"I feel lucky in one way but it has been a big shock. We haven't even talked about whether I can ever play again and probably I won't. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

For the next three months, Barrell must wear a head and neck brace, which is supported by struts to a vest. He is taking painkillers. Getting a good night's sleep is a problem.

Jason, his wife Sue and their two young children, will head back to Auckland from Whangarei, where they are staying with Sue's family, when he feels well enough to travel. Doctors will know in two months if he needs an operation, performed through the throat.

"I don't like the sound of that one. They say I will make a full recovery and be able to lead a normal life," he says.

Barrell threatened High Court action against the New Zealand Rugby Union last year so he could play for Llanelli. Ironically, Auckland signed him when All Black great Olo Brown was forced out by a back injury. (Brown has not played this year and is expected to be forced into retirement)

"I'd really been looking forward to this season because I had got as fit as I'd ever been," says Barrell, who has also played for the Chiefs in Super 12.

Barrell, who owns an aubergine farm in Northland which he has leased out, adds: "The support we've had from friends and family has been amazing. It is weird trying to get used to this but you just have to take it and get on with things."