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38 minutes ago
Watching Whitehaven entertain Super League giants Warrington Wolves on Saturday, James Newton could be forgiven for imagining what it would be like to be in the heart of the action.
But for Newton, simply having the freedom to watch a rugby league game will feel like a victory in itself.
He came frighteningly close to being paralysed after fracturing his neck in a match with Halifax Panthers last September.
Rehab is under way and driving the 33-year-old on is the possibility that, one day, he may experience life as a player once again.
It was during the final match of a difficult season when the injury occurred. Haven captain Newton went in for a tackle as he had done thousands of times during his career.
But this time something wasn’t right. His head connected with his opponent’s hip bone but, in Newton’s words, he had made ‘100 or 200 worse tackles in his career’.
Yet he quickly started to feel light-headed and felt some pain in his neck.
As he was carried from the field on a stretcher, the hooker began to realise this was not a normal injury.
He was taken to hospital in Whitehaven and had a CT scan but the news was not good.
“I could tell from the doctors’ faces that something was not right,” he told BBC Sport.
“The doctor said ‘I’m not a specialist in fractures, but you’ve definitely got a fracture in your neck’.”
Lee MacaulayAt that point, Newton began to worry. When results arrived back from the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, he was told he had to be transported across to Tyneside as a matter of urgency.
This required being strapped up even more as one unwanted movement could have resulted in paralysis.
“I know I’m supposed to be a big, strong rugby player but when there is talk of being paralysed, your emotions totally flip,” he said.
“Those 22 hours were an emotional rollercoaster. I went from thinking I had maybe strained a muscle in my neck to potentially being paralysed, never walking again and then to being stable again but with a long recovery ahead and potentially being restricted to what you can and can’t do in life.
“It was a whirlwind, something that words can’t really describe.”
‘A miracle to walk out of hospital’
A special halo brace was screwed into his head and neck for more than two months, before he moved on to a Miami J collar.
That was only removed on Tuesday. Suddenly, things we all take for granted like glancing our neck from side to side are back on his radar.
And with this extra freedom in movement, it is only now that Newton will be able to step up his rehabilitation programme.
He will head down to Liverpool from his Cumbria home on Monday to begin daily six-hour sessions, before another CT scan in two months’ time will give him a clearer idea as to what the future holds.
“It is so hard when you go from being a really active person to doing absolutely nothing,” Newton said.
“But I’m just so grateful I could have the possibility to recover from this injury. The surgeon told me it was a miracle to walk out of hospital as I did.”
Weeks of being stuck at home watching Netflix and daytime television would test most people’s sanity, but that is where the rugby league family stepped forward.
Rugby League Cares, the sport’s benevolent fund for players and ex-players, provided valuable support and money to pay towards accommodation costs for Newton’s girlfriend and mother when he was in hospital in Newcastle and ongoing funds for his rehabilitation.
The phone and doorbell have been ringing constantly as Newton has been inundated with messages and visits from people within the sport.
Coaches from Super League and the Championship, former team-mates and old managers have all reached out to make sure Newton feels he is not alone.
“I’ve had people from all over the world send me a message or give me a call,” he said.
“The amount of people who have driven up to my house to come and have a coffee and just have a chat has been unreal. I appreciate that so much.
“When you feel so vulnerable and alone, to have that support, it’s great.
“I don’t want to single anyone out. The whole rugby league community has engaged with me throughout. I couldn’t thank them enough.”
James Newton‘Playing again is the ultimate goal’
In the meantime, Newton will be on the walkie-talkie on Saturday in his role as assistant coach to Anthony Murray for League 1 Whitehaven’s big Challenge Cup fourth-round tie.
That will keep him busy for now as he contemplates his mission of making a return to the field.
And he will use all his natural positivity to try to overcome the hurdles he has to face.
Having come back from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury when he was 30 and been written off by some, the professional sportsman in him is firing up the determination to get stuck into this next chapter.
“I’ve set some goals in my rehabbing and playing rugby league again is the ultimate goal,” he added.
“I’ll do everything I can to try to get to that stage, but I also have to be realistic.
“What’s happened to me, the severity of the injury, what could have been… as I have the rest of my life to think about.
“If the specialist says I could play, I think I would, but I just have to go through the process and see where we get to.”
