The Worst Professional Sports Injuries of All-Time

BY KAYLA BEIRNE

Professional sports are rife with exciting triumphs and the hardest of falls. Here are a few of the worst professional sports injuries of all time.

Professional sports provide a lot of entertainment for fans, seeing the high highs as well as the low lows. Sports injuries always get a lot of public attention, but the public can sometimes forget about the injured player after the fact and their paths to recovery. Read on to learn more about some of the worst professional sports injuries of all time.

Kerri Strug

Kerri Strug is a gymnast who, in the 1996 Olympic Games, was able to bring home the gold. It was tight on the final day of the U.S. Women’s category, down to a face-off between America and Russia. America had the lead, but its first four gymnasts failed under pressure and delivered poor scores. Kerri Strug was the last hope, and in her first attempt, she under-rotated and hurt her ankle, leaving her with what doctors later diagnosed as a third-degree lateral sprain and tendon damage.

Not wanting the U.S. to lose everything to Russia, Strug went up for a second attempt for a higher score. She limped to the runway to make her second attempt and landed it almost perfectly before quickly switching to standing on one foot. She then collapsed and needed assistance off the platform. The judges scored her attempt, and she secured the gold.

Richard Zedník

Richard Zedník was a Czech-born NHL player for the Washington Capitals in 1997. He was a good player and would stay in the NHL for a long time, but in 2008, things were close to ending. An accident almost ended Zedník’s career and life during a game playing for the Florida Panthers against the Buffalo Sabres. Someone’s skate blade accidentally came into contact with Zedník’s neck and sliced open his carotid artery.

He lost so much blood that, at the hospital, he needed five pints to recover fully. As a result, he missed the rest of the season but returned for a final season that next year and appeared in 70 games.

Kevin Ware

Kevin Ware Jr. Is an American basketball player who played for the University of Louisville. His injury occurred in 2013 during a March Madness game against Duke, where he suffered an open tibia fracture. Ware attempted to block a shot and landed improperly on his leg, resulting in an open fracture that burst a few inches out of his shin. He was out for the rest of the season, only returning for nine games in the middle of the next season. He played two more seasons with Georgia State, and now he plays with Al Naft Baghdad of the Iraqi Basketball League.

The worst professional sports injuries left these athletes out of the game for a while, but hopefully, they pursued the workers’ compensation they are entitled to. Many of these injuries were career-ending, but the players still had some protection to ensure these professional sports organizations didn’t leave them behind.