Williams spent four months in and out of hospital battling a bacterial infection he originally thought was a “back niggle”. <\/p>\n
![\"Tamaiti](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tamaiti-williams-in-recovery-from-a-life-threatening-mrsa-in-TEZKEWPW3BHI7MYJOCMHAW6AME.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Tamaiti Williams in recovery from a life threatening MRSA infection. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
“I knew it was bad when the meds weren’t working. I thought people thought I was crazy cause of the pain I was in,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want to say dark days, but tough days… days full of pain and the unknowns were scary as well.”<\/p>\n
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) doesn’t respond to most common antibiotics. In Williams’ case, the infection had “set up shop” in his back and started eating away at the discs.<\/p>\n
“They said I could be in a wheelchair. But luckily it was my upper back… if it was in my lumbar spine, it would’ve been a different story.”<\/p>\n
An ‘uncertain’ recovery process<\/p>\n
![\"Crusaders](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/crusaders-doctor-hamish-reid-RDMYQAJUTZASNNRIZ3VX3L4FMY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Crusaders doctor Hamish Reid. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Crusaders doctor Hamish Reid said the seriousness of Williams’ condition became apparent very quickly.<\/p>\n
“At worst, MRSA can kill you. And that’s the reality of what it was like in the first couple of weeks,” Reid said.<\/p>\n
“He was really, really unwell and the bug had spread around his blood.”<\/p>\n
The most challenging part of the ordeal was when Williams was finally released from hospital \u2013 only for the superbug to come back with a vengeance. <\/p>\n
Williams had to undergo surgery with four large screws put in his spine to stabilise it.<\/p>\n
“I think the hardest part of the process has been the uncertainty,” Reid said.<\/p>\n
“He’s not at the point yet where he’s finished all his treatment so having a condition come back, you treat it with a much longer tail… to really, really reduce the chance [of it returning].”<\/p>\n
‘Blindsided’ by withdrawal symptoms<\/p>\n
Alongside the physical pain came significant mental challenges, with Williams revealing he struggled with withdrawal symptoms.<\/p>\n
“That one caught me blindsided,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’d been on a lot of pain meds for a long time. When I got out of hospital, I went cold turkey. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing, but I’d had enough.<\/p>\n
“I just wanted to see my wife. If someone walked into the room and I didn’t know them, I’d get worried.”<\/p>\n
The prop said the experience had reinforced the importance of seeking help.<\/p>\n
“I’d be stupid to think I can just move on from it,” Williams said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got a lot of support and a lot of mentors around me… but I’ll be keen to see someone (a therapist).<\/p>\n
“I want to show it’s not weak to speak out. It might not be hard today, but tomorrow could be different, so we’ll put a plan in place and see the right people.”<\/p>\n
Rolling with the punches<\/p>\n
![\"Crusaders](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/crusaders-prop-tamaiti-williams-W5S7QDFLPVDRRNXOFVJCJDCGU4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
While rugby remained a long-term goal, Williams and the Crusaders were putting his overall well-being first.<\/p>\n
“Rugby’s one thing in life, but being healthy and functional comes before that,” Reid said.<\/p>\n
“The priority has been getting him back to being a happy, healthy person who can support his family before we look to rugby.”<\/p>\n
Williams had already lost around 20kg of muscle during the ordeal and faced months of rehabilitation to rebuild his body.<\/p>\n
“I’ve accepted that. I know there’s a lot of hard work that needs to go in. I’ll stay open-minded and just roll with the punches,” he said.<\/p>\n
He hoped to take part in a Crusaders pre-season for the first time in five years, although after everything he endured, simply getting back on his feet was a victory in itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven months after contracting a life threatening MRSA infection, Crusaders star Tamaiti Williams is still coming to terms…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[789,56380,134,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-602068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-crusaders","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}