{"id":265220,"date":"2025-11-05T22:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/265220\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T22:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:40:11","slug":"katoas-family-provide-major-update-following-his-emergency-brain-surgery-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/265220\/","title":{"rendered":"Katoa\u2019s family provide major update following his emergency brain surgery &#8211; NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/melbourne-storm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Melbourne Storm<\/a> forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/eliesa-katoa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eliesa Katoa<\/a> has been in all sorts after a devastating series of head injuries last weekend, but is in a stable condition and has been moved out of intensive care as he continues to recover from emergency brain surgery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Katoa was rushed to hospital from Eden Park last Sunday after suffering three separate head knocks during Tonga&#8217;s Pacific Championships loss to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/rugby-league\/international-teams\/new-zealand\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Zealand<\/a>, the first of which occurred during the pre-game warm-up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The series of concussions led to emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Katoa&#8217;s uncle, Reverend Setelo Katoa, spoke to Tongan radio station PMN Tonga, confirming the 25-year-old was \u201crecovering well\u201d and now in a general hospital ward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cAt the moment, he&#8217;s doing much better,\u201d Reverend Setelo told PMN.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cHe&#8217;s awake, recovering well, and being looked after by medical staff. The family is very thankful for all the support, love, and prayers from everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-221753\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"NRL Rd 10 \u2013 Storm v Wests Tigers\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2214477387-scaled.jpg.webp.webp\"\/>MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA &#8211; MAY 11: Eliesa Katoa of the Storm scores a try during the round 10 NRL match between Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers at AAMI Park, on May 11, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mike Owen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The family expressed gratitude to fans, the Tongan community, and supporters across the world who have been praying for Katoa since his collapse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Reverend Setelo said the response had been overwhelming, with churches and prayer groups gathering in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/rugby-league\/international-teams\/tonga\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tonga<\/a> and abroad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThe family feels the strength and love of everyone supporting them, and their faith remains strong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cSupporters from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/nrl\/teams\/melbourne-storm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Melbourne Storm<\/a> have also sent messages of love and encouragement, saying the whole team and fan base are behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Storm welfare manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotackle.com\/players\/young-tonumaipea\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Young Tonumaipea<\/a> has been in Auckland supporting Katoa and his family, while the club remains in daily contact with hospital staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">There is currently no set timeline for Katoa&#8217;s discharge from hospital or his return to Melbourne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm forward Eliesa Katoa has been in all sorts after a devastating series of head injuries last&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-265220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}