GERARD Hately was flown to Sydney for an MRI on Sunday night after he was knocked out in Tullibigeal Lakes United’s under 16 match against Waratah Tigers.
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Play was halted for about 20 minutes at Exies Oval and Hately, 15, was taken to Griffith Base Hospital.
The TLU player’s uncle, John Hately, said his nephew had gone in low for a tackle and knocked his head.
“He got up and went to keep playing, but he fell over and he got up again and fell over,” Hately said.
An ambulance was called and Hately was taken to the city’s hospital, where he underwent CT scans and X-rays.
The tests were clear, but the doctor wanted to conduct an MRI and didn’t want to wait until Monday.
“The CT scans and X-rays all came back clear, the doctor just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any spinal damage,” Hately said.
Gerard’s father, Mick, and mother, Nicole, drove to Sydney to meet their son.
“He’s fine, it was all precautionary. He’s got a neck brace on, but he’s walking around.”
Hately said the club would ensure Gerard had a rest for a couple of weeks.
“When you get knocked down like that it’s a mandatory two or three weeks in our club,” Hately said.
“If someone gets knocked down you don’t take any chances.”
Hately said the family was travelling back to Griffith on Monday.
“In a couple of weeks he’ll be back playing,” Hately said.
Griffith Base Hospital general manager Dr Liz Harford said Hately needed specialist neurology care, which was outside the scope of services able to be provided at the facility.
“The patient was transferred to Westmead Children’s Hospital (WCH) for specialist medical review,” Dr Harford said.
She said the transfer was based on the patient’s clinical presentation and advice from WCH clinicians.
“Griffith Base Hospital has an agreement with private company Insight Radiology to provide MRI services which are available weekdays. Patients who require an emergency MRI may also require higher level care and therefore must be transferred to a specialist treatment centre.”