As Eli Katoa continues to recover following emergency surgery to drain fluid from his brain, Kiwis utility Te Maire Martin has stressed there are key differences to the brain bleed that forced him to retire in 2020 and what the Storm star is going through amid fears of his immediate playing future.
Katoa remains in hospital after suffering “seizure activity” on the bench during Tonga’s Pacific Championships loss to New Zealand earlier this month following three head knocks in the space of two hours.
The world’s best edge forward suffered a sickening collision with teammate Lehi Hopoate in the warm-up but was cleared by medical staff who didn’t see the disturbing footage that was broadcast.
Katoa was then forced off early in the match for a head injury assessment, which he passed, before another head knock in the second half ruled him out of the contest.
The back-rower required an oxygen mask on the bench and was rushed from the stadium to hospital, with Katoa posting a message on Instagram thanking fans for reaching out.
The NRL has been investigating the incident, with a spokesperson providing this statement last week.
“Our first priority is the health of Eliesa Katoa,” it read.
“The NRL chief medical officer is monitoring his condition and is in close contact with the medical experts involved.
“The NRL is currently reviewing the circumstances of Sunday’s events in line with usual practice.”
Martin didn’t want to compare his situation to what Katoa was going through given there were some key differences to the health issues that forced him to retire in 2020, with suggestions last week that the Storm star may have played his last game given the serious health risks.
Martin felt that something wasn’t right during the warm-up to a round 7 match against the Bulldogs in 2019 but played on, with his condition deteriorating on the plane trip back to Townsville.
Martin was eventually forced to retire nine months later after he wasn’t cleared to do contact work, with doctors unable to work out what caused it.
There is hope for Katoa given Martin was able to return to rugby league with the Broncos in 2022, but the playmaker didn’t want to make any assumptions on a completely different case.
“Anything to do with something with the brain is scary,” he said.
“The doctors and physios and all the special stuff we get these days look after that. I haven’t really looked into how it happened or the small details of it. But I know when you’re dealing with anything with the brain, you have to get it sorted straight away and get the experts’ advice.
“Luckily with the NRL we have avenues to good sources of those things, like brain specialists. He will be in good hands, it’s just unfortunate because you never want anything like that to happen to anyone. Hopefully, he is all right.
“It was 50-50 (for me to come back). Because they didn’t know what happened or why it happened, they didn’t know if it was going to happen again.
“But I think Eli’s whack to the head … If I got whacked in the head it would be easy (for doctors to say) don’t get whacked in the head again and you won’t get a brain bleed.
“But because I didn’t, I took the other route the way I went. But there are specialists everywhere, and that’s their job (to advise).”
Martin’s condition improved after two years when his headaches started to disappear, but it’s unclear what the path ahead looks like for Katoa.
It’s why Martin is happy to help out if he wants some support, with the playmaker suggesting Katoa finds some things away from rugby league to help him through the recovery.
“I don’t know him too well,” Martin said.
“I’ve had a few people reach out (from other sports) to me along those lines and how it happened and the comeback. If he reached out to me, I would happily give him some advice. He’s probably getting bombarded with messages.
“I had a good support network. I wasn’t too ingrained in footy, so it wasn’t too bad. I had other things I could do outside of footy I could do. I have always loved hunting, so as long as I could still hunt I was happy.
“I had so many hobbies away from the game that I know got taken away, but I was still happy. I don’t know what he has or what his other things are, but I know if you are just footy 24-7, it would be hard. I was lucky enough that I had other hobbies that I enjoyed.”
Originally published as ‘I would happily give him some advice’: Te Maire Martin opens up on brain bleed scare as Eli Katoa continues to recover in hospital