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Almost six months have passed and Corey Harawira-Naera still can\u2019t make sense of the incident that threatens his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we will ever get to the bottom of why it happened,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a reference to those disturbing images that left him convulsing on the Accor Stadium turf. In a clash against South Sydney in May, the Canberra forward suffered what appeared to be a delayed reaction to a head knock, one that he describes now as an \u201cout-of-body experience\u201d.<\/p>\n
After suffering a seizure, the game was delayed for 10 minutes. Players from both sides crowded around to spare the fans, watching at the ground or on television, from witnessing what was unfolding. One of them was Harawira-Naera\u2019s son, Elijah, who was planning to attend the game but ended up watching from home after falling ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part was knowing he broke out in tears watching on TV,\u201d Harawira-Naera says of his six-year-old, who has refused to participate in junior footy games since the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t want to play again and that\u2019s probably because I\u2019m not on the field. I\u2019m not going to push him to play if he doesn\u2019t feel confident playing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Corey Harawira-Naera in the hands of medical staff after suffering a seizure at Accor Stadium.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWhen he gets a bit older he will understand that these kinds of things happen out of the ordinary sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n There are concerns that Harawira-Naera\u2019s health issue may not stop with him. The former Panthers and Bulldogs back-rower is considering getting Elijah tested to ensure it isn\u2019t hereditary.<\/p>\n \u201cWe might go down the avenue of possibly getting a test done genetically to see if there is anything in my family that I have that I could possibly pass on to my little one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n A battery of tests, which began with MRI scans of his head and heart, have been ongoing. The latest results have been encouraging, but the underlying cause may never be found. It is looking increasingly likely that Harawira-Naera will be cleared to return to the NRL for next season, although he is not yet allowed to recommence training.<\/p>\n \u201cTalking to the cardiologist, looking at the vision, she thought it could have been a cardiac arrhythmic or something like that, which is a seizure caused by your heart. She was pretty confident it was more neurological,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI did say that after it happened I do remember having a couple of head knocks in the game and it could have just been a delayed response to it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure we can get everything to return to normal. There were some funny rhythms in the heart and I\u2019ve got a test in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cardiologist just called me to tell me the troponin level [high levels can indicate heart damage] has returned to normal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to make sure there are no funky [heart] rhythms. That\u2019s where we are at at the moment, it\u2019s one more hurdle to get over and tick.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be a lot easier if it was a hammy because I know I literally can\u2019t run. I\u2019ve felt fine … that\u2019s the frustrating part.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe cardiologist is quite happy for me to return to some form of training if we do get those rhythms out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n The best-case scenario is for \u201cCHN\u201d to return to restricted training duties in mid-December, the early Christmas present he has been longing for.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a surgery, but I have to put something in my system that tracks me for a couple of weeks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about a month away where I will see the cardiologist and return to some form of running and get amongst the boys.<\/p>\n Corey Harawira-Naera watches a Raiders semi-final from the bench in 2022.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI did have itchy feet by the end of the season; the last two rounds I was putting heat on the doc to clear me to play, just because I felt fine.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a few injuries at the back end of last season too, I was trying to make myself available. I\u2019m not saying I was going to get straight back in, [but I tried].<\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest part of the whole thing was knowing I felt fine. Trying to find out what was going on, I just had to hold myself back. Even at training, with the little conditioning stuff I was allowed to do, I wanted more. That\u2019s the best way to put it, I felt I wasn\u2019t getting a lot out of it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be a lot easier if it was a hammy because I [would] know I literally can\u2019t run. I\u2019ve felt fine since this happened, that\u2019s the frustrating part. I\u2019ve realised now in hindsight that it\u2019s the best thing that I didn\u2019t rush back.<\/p>\n \u201cI did concentrate on the worst-case scenario, that if I didn\u2019t get cleared I would have to give the game up.<\/p>\n \u201cThey assured me that I would be fine, it was just the cardiologist realising there could be an element of risk. Not high risk, it\u2019s still known it could possibly happen again, but we\u2019ve pretty much ruled out any serious things at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get everything back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n Unable to recall anything about the incident, Harawira-Naera was forced to piece together what happened from video footage and teammate accounts. This is what he now knows: about 40 seconds after limping in back play, Harawira-Naera returned to his customary position on the left edge and collapsed.<\/p>\n \u201cStraight after I didn\u2019t remember anything,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I came to, which was in the tunnel in the back of the ambulance, that\u2019s when I first remember.<\/p>\n Taking a hit-up just before the incident.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cAs time went on I started talking to people. They would say \u2018you started spinning around and you played the ball a couple of times\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember I played the ball, that last one, and then I looked into the crowd. From there, my eyes just sort of [were] fluctuating. I was gone until I woke up in the ambulance.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching the vision, it\u2019s a bit of an out-of-body experience because I just don\u2019t remember anything on the field as I was spinning around and falling onto the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n In the moments that followed, the game was forgotten. Raiders and Rabbitohs players and staff rallied around the Kiwi international. Afterwards, both sides admitted they struggled to complete the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how well I would have reacted if I saw another player doing that,\u201d Harawira-Naera says.<\/p>\n Despite having another two seasons on his contract, there were times he feared he would be forced into premature retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cI would struggle straight away knowing it had been stripped away from you, but there are a lot of guys who have had it worse to finish up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has played on my mind but after having a talk to that doc and the cardiologist and they think I\u2019ll be sweet to return eventually, I stopped thinking about it.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully I\u2019m back on the [training] field this year. You\u2019d still hope there was a lot left.\u201d<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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