Bristol Bears and England prop Kyle Sinckler has recalled his summer from hell as he feared he would never play again after suffering from a long-term back injury.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: “I’m very fortunate because I’m a professional athlete and we have good physios at the club and strength and conditioning, and I’ve got my own team outside.
“Every minute of the day was around my rehab and I just thought, ‘Imagine if you were just a normal person who had a family and were doing a 9-5 and you were experiencing this stuff’,
“I don’t know how they would get through that. It’s serious stuff, so my heart goes out to people dealing with chronic pain because there are some really dark times.
“At times, I would think, ‘Am I ever going to play again?’. I was in so much pain. I couldn’t sit down. I couldn’t put my shoes and my socks on. I was literally bed-bound for three or four months.
“Fair play to one of the guys I was working with – a chiropractor – because he just said, ‘One day, you’ll wake up and it’ll be gone’. It was the strangest injury ever.
“I remember I sat down and suddenly just thought, ‘I’m not in pain any more – what is going on?'”
Read Kyle Sinckler’s whole interview with the Telegraph by clicking here.
“I didn’t sleep” – Kyle Sinckler ranks his three toughest opponents
Bristol Bears and England tighthead-prop Kyle Sinckler has ranked his three toughest opponents from his rugby career so far.
#3. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
- Position Second-row
- Height 6 ft 6 in
- Weight 268 lb
- Caps 160
Sinckler, who grew up in a single-parent family in Tooting, south London, has been working with an organisation called Saviour World which has helped him to focus on his game and deal with emotional difficulties
Sinckler said: “We’re actually good friends. I think that’s how he knows how to get under my skin.”
Did you know? Jones studied part-time for a degree in law at Swansea University, graduating on 21 July 2010