Islavale footballer has steel pin inserted in ‘snapped’ leg three weeks after being knocked unconscious in collision with wall
Fifteen minutes into his comeback match from a serious head injury, a footballer had his leg broken in two places.
But Finlay Stables is determined to return to playing for his hometown club of Islavale despite having a steel pin inserted into his ‘snapped’ right leg.
Just three weeks earlier, the Keith-based electrician split his head open in a match in Aberdeen after smashing into a boundary wall, knocking him unconscious and leading to the game being abandoned.
On Saturday he made his comeback as a substitute in Vale’s league match at Newmachar, and this time suffered the agony of a fractured tibia and fibula in his right leg.
Stables needed surgery the following day to support his shattered leg with a steel pin which will remain there for the rest of his life, supporting the broken bones with the help of screws.
Adding to his team’s injury concerns, his team-mate Noel Scott had an operation on the same morning with the same consultant after a glass door smashed through his leg in a freak holiday accident just days earlier.
“Noel was just next door to me,” said Finlay, from his hospital bed the following day. “He got the same consultant doing his leg, and I think he was in right after me.”
Both players will miss the remainder of their club’s season, but Stables’ double injury whammy is such a short space of time has been a real shock to his system.
“At this moment I do feel like I’m the unluckiest player in the country. But hopefully if the recovery goes well, I’ll be able to get back out on the pitch again next year.
“It’s not been a great month for me.”
Islavale’s manager Robert Scott - brother of injured player Noel - described how there was “blood everywhere” following Stables’ horrific head knock in a cup match at Hermes, leaving many of the team in shock.
The unconscious player was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary that day and the game was abandoned, but scans revealed no lasting damage to the player and he was soon discharged.
Stables said he felt fine about making his comeback so soon after his head injury, and when he came on as substitute he was happy to head the ball for the first time with no ill effects.
However, the picture changed a few minutes later when a 50-50 challenge with a Newmachar opponent left him in the greatest pain of his life.
“In hindsight I maybe shouldn’t have went in but I was just too keen,” he said. “I hadn’t played for the last few weeks and I wanted to get back into thing.
“It was 50-50, I went in there and I got there just before their boy and he’s just came straight through me. I got the ball and he went straight through my leg and it’s just snapped in half.”
Stables’ excruciating pain was made all the worse when he first thought his ankle had been damaged, and while this was being supported it put more weight on his shattered lower leg. “It was just agony when I went off, the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life.”
What made the situation worse was that the Newmachar club’s manager asked the referee to abandon the match and have it replayed, even though Islavale led 2-0 with just five minutes to go.
“Even with the pain I was in, I was getting annoyed with him. All of his players were saying they should give us the game but he wasn’t willing to listen so I just said ‘get me off this pitch so we can finish this game’.
“I was in agony but I wasn’t having that. I must have been on the pitch for at least 25 minutes before they took me off, and they were able to finish the match. So at least we got the win.
“I was picked up off the field and I sat there for about an hour, it seemed even longer because I was in so much pain.
“All the boys were gutted for me, but they were sharing the love and they were just top notch to me.”
“I was kept in hospital on Saturday, they put me in a cast and found me a bed. I couldn’t sleep that night, my leg was that sore. I kept on twitching through the night and moving my leg was making it worse.
“I got in for surgery first thing in the morning, they operated on me for three or four hours. I am wearing a boot to support the ankle and I’m using my crutches.
“The consultant says that within three months I should be walking but any physical activities are out and it will be 12 months before I get back to football.
“But I’m definitely going to try and come back playing. It won't be this season obviously but hopefully by the summer time next year I will be getting a lot better, doing runs and kicking a ball again.
“The plan would be to get back to pre-season next year, that’s what I am aiming for. The consultant says he is very happy with the surgery so that is good for my mind as well.”
Stables was overwhelmed by the messages of support he received from right across Moray and Aberdeenshire.
“I can’t really put it into words what it means to me, having so many people thinking about me.
“It is greatly appreciated what everybody is saying, I’m getting texts all the time and I really appreciate it, massively.
“It was the same last time with my head injury, but now people are in shock saying they can’t believe this has happened. Some have said ‘that could only happen to you’.
“I turn 30 next week so I’m not sure how much of a celebration there will be. Maybe a few drinks will help me with the pain!
“I’m gutted but that’s part of the game. It’s just your luck, and with the position I play I’m always in the thick of it.
“We’ve got a really good team and that’s why I'm so gutted that I won't be playing. It’s a great bunch of lads, we are all mates and everybody will fight for everybody so it’s hard not being part of that.
“But I'll still go up to the games on Saturdays and I will be on the touchline cheering the boys on.”
