Paul O’Connel’s Lions Arm Break Story Is The Stuff Of Legend
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Most of us have come to the conclusion at this stage that Paul O’Connell is no ordinary human.
The former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain has demonstrated over the years that his pain threshold is like no other human being. We recently reminded you of a freakish story from Eddie O’Sulivan where O’Connell’s collarbone almost popped out of his skin against France, yet he played on and finished the game.
The latest story to surface has come from O’Connell’s new book, The Battle where he describes his devastating arm break against Australia in the 2013 Lions series.
Upon suffering the injury, Lions doctor James Robson asked O’Connell to squeeze his hand but the Munster man couldn’t, first time around. He somehow managed it on the second try and convinced the doctor he was fine. The on-field prognosis was a trapped nerve.
‘You get 20 bangs a game and they fade away after a minute, so there was no big deal about seeing [the game] out.
‘At times like that, there’s so much adrenaline going you barely notice the pain.’
O’Connell finished the game only to find out that not only had he broken his arm, but a scan revealed a previously unnoticed wrist break on the same arm. Madness.
