Published: Jan 24, 2015, 06:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 24, 2015, 06:46 PM (IST)
A former teammate of deceased Phillip Hughes called Daniel Hughes coped an almost identical blow to the head in a grade cricket match. He was attempting to play the pull shot to a bouncer, which he missed and the ball struck him at almost the exact same spot which proved fatal for Phillip.
Officials and on-lookers were left shocked when Daniel dropped over holding his knees with his hands. Concerned opposition players and teammates rushed to his side. When they spotted a swelling in his neck the panic increased, reported dailytelegraph.com.au.
“His neck was swelling up and we thought ‘oh God’,” said Northern Districts president Mike Langford. Daniel was then assisted off the pitch and an ambulance rushed to the site to cater to the injury. The Hornsby hospital, where he was admitted to, ran tests and CT scans and to everyone’s relief ruled out any major damage.
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The incident occurred during a match between Northern Districts and Blacktown at Mark Taylor Oval, when Daniel tried to hook the very first ball he was facing. He has been described as a talented young batsman and dates Nine TV reporter, Erin Molan.
Daniel plays with Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League and has played a couple of First-Class matches for New South Wales but has not cemented his position in the squad.
His girlfriend was overwhelmed with fear when she got to know about the incident. “I got a call saying he’s been hit in the head with a ball, he’s collapsed and there’s an ambulance on the way, you’ve got to get here,’’ Molan said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life. He’s got the lump on the side of his head the size of a cricket ball, its horrendous,” Molan added, speaking to The Sunday Telegraph. Daniel and Phillip who share their last name played a lot of cricket together at the junior level. “Daniel played a lot of cricket growing up with Phil through the juniors,” Molan said.
Langford said that the incident brought back memories of the Phillip Hughes tragedy. “Mate this Phil Hughes thing it’s gone deeper … you know how it was at the time,” Langford said.
“It’s in the back of everyone’s mind now and especially something ironic about last name Hughes and hit in the same spot and everyone was just like ‘oh God.’ But at no stage was he convulsing or throwing up or any of that sort. We got him in the club room and then we called an ambulance. He had CT scans and that came back with some good news saying there’s no burst (artery),” he added.
