The shoulder injury that saved Henry Taefu’s life
By Pete Fairbairn - RUPA
On Friday night, 23-year-old Henry Taefu wore the No.12 jersey for the Reds against the Chiefs in his third Super Rugby game. Away from Rugby Henry’s fiancée Sarah is due to give birth to the couple’s first child within a fortnight; a baby girl.
Life is good for the former Australian U20s star, however if it wasn’t for a shoulder injury suffered at the World Rugby U20s Championship in France back in 2013 he might not have lived much past his 21st birthday.
Taefu was sent home from the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury, and booked in for a reconstruction in a Brisbane hospital, but it was only when he went under the knife that the doctors made a startling discovery.
“I’d always struggled with my fitness and had lots of issues with that without necessarily understanding why,” Taefu, who spent his first two years after school in the Parramatta Eels academy before returning to Rugby, told RUPA.
“When I was under the knife, the Doctor