Former Blues player on life support after open heart surgery
The Blues are among those sending their hopes and prayers to Matt Johnson as their former midfielder fights for his life after undergoing open heart surgery.
Rheumatic fever, a disease that attacks the heart’s valves, almost claimed Johnson’s life at 13.
In pursuit of his rugby dream the 26-year-old Manurewa-raised league player underwent two previous heart operations.
Johnson was recruited out of St Peter’s College by the Melbourne Storm, only for that stint to be cut short by the club after nine months due to his heart condition.
Johnson refused to give up his dream and impressed during the 2017 provincial season for Southland to earn a contract with the Blues in 2018.
The following year he shifted to Northland but heart issues have been a constant companion, curtailing his promising career.
In a series of posts Johnson’s fiancé, Sky Sport commentator, presenter and rugby player Taylah Hodson-Tomokino, detailed the recent events which led to Johnson being placed in an induced coma.
“Nine weeks ago, Matty started getting fevers and stomach pains. After going to his GP, they couldn’t find anything wrong,” Hodson-Tomokino explained.
“Weeks went by and his symptoms were coming & going. Two weeks ago, we went to the hospital after Matty was shivering uncontrollably and had stomach pains.
“They told him he was probably just “blocked up” and gave him laxatives. They had no reason to believe it was his heart as he passed all the usual tests: ECG’s, Echo tests etc. His heart was in perfect working condition and his Aortic Valve that was replaced in 2018 was more or less perfect.
“The fevers didn’t stop and last week an infection was found in his blood. A Transoesophageal Echocardiography was done, just to double check his heart.
“Unfortunately, a vegetation was seen growing on his valve as a result of the infection. The medical term is Endocarditis. Furthermore, a CT scan was done. The first came up clear and we were hopeful it could be treated with antibiotics.
“A second CT scan was done and it was revealed that the vegetation had caused a huge abscess over his Left Ventricular Outflow Tract (LVOT).
“The abscess had also formed a hole on the LVOT so surgery was his only option. Bits and pieces of the vegetation on his valve were breaking off every time his heart was beating. Fragments of it had reached his kidneys which is why he had the stomach pains and the doctors feared it would reach his brain and cause a stroke.
“If the abscess burst, it would have sent him in to septic shock. If we didn’t operate, it would prove fatal, so we were left with no choice.
“At 7am on Tuesday 2nd June, Matty went in to surgery.
“The surgeons were able to drain the abscess on the LVOT, fix the hole, replace the diseased valve and perform grafts to widen his coronary arteries. At 2pm they tried to take him off the bypass machine, however, his heart wouldn’t start. They then operated again and did as much as they could.
“The left chambers in his heart were working great, but the right was weak. They tried multiple times to get him off the bypass but they were unable to.
“After 19 long hours the surgeons tried multiple times to get his heart pumping but the right side is struggling too much. Matt sustained heavy bleeding which is not clotting so the surgeons have left his chest open and will go back into surgery if the bleeding doesn’t stop.
“While his sternum is open they need to take immediate action, he will be placed in an induced coma until further notice. We love you all and thank you for keeping my spirits high.”
While Johnson remains on life support, Hodson-Tomokino hinted at positive news today as he had stopped bleeding after going through eight donated blood bags – the entire body volume of blood two times over.
“We’ve passed the first hurdle the next is to get his heart pumping on its own. This is the best news as we were told that we were not likely to see any improvements in his condition and to expect the worst.”
In the latest update Hodson-Tomokino said there would be no procedures on Wednesday which gives Johnson’s heart time to rest and strengthen for his next attempt to come off life support.
Johnson’s conditions has led to an outpouring of messages from former teammates including Patrick Tuipulotu, Rieko Ioane, Jerome Kaino, James Parsons and Dalton Papalii.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments