Lion bite, puck to the head and cut by a fish tank – strangest sporting injuries
England star Jonny Bairstow has become the latest sportsperson to suffer a surprising health setback.
Jonny Bairstow has been ruled out of England’s third Test against South Africa and the T20 World Cup after sustaining a lower limb injury in a freak accident whilst playing golf.
The wicketkeeper-batter said on Instagram he “slipped on the golf course” on Friday morning – it is understood he was walking to a tee box at a venue near Harrogate when the incident happened.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the other occasions when athletes suffered unusual injuries.
Ben Foakes
England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was ruled out of a Test series against New Zealand in 2021 when he tore his hamstring after slipping on a sock while in the dressing room following Surrey’s County Championship match against Middlesex at the Oval.
Lee Burge
Coventry goalkeeper Burge trained with a bandage on his head after he was struck by a puck while watching ice hockey in 2018. The then 25-year-old reportedly needed hospital treatment after being hit while he watched the Coventry Blaze’s Elite League clash with the Sheffield Steelers.
Jofra Archer
Scott Baldwin
Wales hooker Baldwin sat out the Ospreys’ PRO14 defeat against the Cheetahs in 2017 because of a lion bite. The then 29-year-old was absent from the 44-25 loss after he was injured while attempting to stroke the caged animal at a game lodge in Bloemfontein. He later said he had needed four operations and was told he could have lost his hand.
Jamie Donaldson
Ryder Cup star Donaldson suffered a severe finger injury following a mishap with a chainsaw in January 2016. The Welshman posted a graphic photo on Twitter of what seemed to be a laceration to the little finger on his left hand. Above the image, he wrote: “So folks in my time off decided to have a fight with a chainsaw and lost! Oops!!”
Carl Frampton
Frampton was forced to pull out of a fight against Emmanuel Dominguez after suffering a hand injury in what he described as a “freak accident”. The Belfast boxer, who was due to face Mexican Dominguez in Philadelphia, said a large ornament had fallen on his left hand in a hotel lobby, fracturing his fifth metacarpal.
Svein Grondalen
David James
Glenn McGrath
Jason Roy
Biniam Girmay
Cyclist Girmay had to pull out of the Giro d’Italia in May after injuring his eye when being struck by the cork from a Prosecco bottle while celebrating his historic stage win on the podium. He had become the first black African to win a stage of a Grand Tour when he beat Mathieu van der Poel in a reduced sprint in Jesi, but the festivities were cut short.
