Hull KR captain Shaun Kenny-Dowall has relived the "scary" moment he was left struggling to breathe in a Super League game.
The ex-Kiwi star ended up in hospital after Sunday's 15-10 win over Wakefield amid fears his windpipe was shutting off. Kenny-Dowall, 34, said: "I did start to panic. I just couldn't breathe."
Medics needed to give him oxygen during lengthy on- field treatment. His throat took the full force of a "freakish" clash with the head of Trinity scrum-half Mason Lino. The KR centre is now struggling to speak but could still face Warrington on Friday. Kenny-Dowall explained: “It was quite scary. I just couldn’t get my breath back. I couldn’t breathe through the windpipe and was struggling.
“The staff came out and brought me the oxygen mask and that helped put my mind at ease. They told me to relax and try and breathe through my nose as my airwaves were shut. They did an awesome job.”
Croaky Kenny-Dowall has rarely missed a game in three years with the Robins and still hopes to feature at Halliwell Jones Stadium. He said: “I’m not too bad. I went to hospital to make sure my windpipe hadn’t closed. They were happy it wasn’t going to swell too much. They released me and said it’s just a process now of letting the swelling go down.
“It’s still swollen. You can hear with my voice. But hopefully that comes back. I’ll probably have this voice for a little while but in the grand scheme of things it’s not too bad. I’m just going through the process now of trying to get back (playing). I’m not sure yet about Friday. I’ve not been into training yet. I’ll get back on the field there and see how I go.”
Immediately after Sunday’s Craven Park triumph, Rovers coach Danny McGuire thought the ex-Sydney Roosters star had copped an elbow. But on the 30th minute incident, Kenny-Dowall said: “It was Mason Lino’s head. It was pretty unfortunate. It was a freakish tackle that doesn't happen all the time so a bit of a weird one. But it’s fine.”
A first win in five games eased fears KR could get dragged into the relegation dogfight. Instead, they’re just two points off the top-six play-off spots with eight games to go so they’re only looking up. Kenny-Dowall admitted: “That’s it. That’s the focus.
“It’s a great opportunity. We’ve plenty of rugby still to play and we’re not far off where we need to be. The boys can take a lot of confidence from getting the monkey off their back and kick on now.”
Meanwhile, Leeds have signed Toulouse and France prop Justin Sangare on a two-year deal from 2023 but Rhinos captain Kruise Leeming could be out for up to three months after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
