Schoolboy suffers horrific spinal injury in rugby match

Published on Tuesday 16 September 2008 10:15

A TEENAGE pupil at a top city boys' school has suffered a horrific spinal injury during a rugby match.

The 17-year-old boy, who is a pupil at Merchiston Castle School in Colinton, has been transferred to a specialist spinal unit in Glasgow following the serious injury. It is believed the teenager was injured in a first-team school match when a scrum collapsed.

The pupil, who is understood to have been playing in the front row, was injured during a match against Stewart's Melville College at Inverleith on Saturday in the school's first full programme of fixtures.

The game was abandoned after the accident.

The young player was transferred to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital yesterday for treatment.

The Scottish Rugby Union is working alongside the school authorities to ensure the player's family and friends receive the support they need.

The school's first and second teams had started their seasons just days before the serious injury, winning against club sides.

There have been calls to ban scrums from rugby matches following a number of spinal injuries.

In October last year, a 16-year-old was left with a crushed spinal cord that paralysed him from the chest down following a clash with another player during a dive for the ball.

In 2000, a teenager from Barrhead was left paralysed when a scrum collapsed during a match for Whitecraigs under-18s.