Worcester insist they are standing by Michael Fatialofa as he faces £100,000 medical bills
Worcester Warriors today vowed to “continue to go over and above what is expected” in their support of Michael Fatialofa, who is facing medical bills of £100,000 as he recovers from a serious neck injury suffered against Saracens. Warriors co-owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham have confirmed to RugbyPass that they are funding an extension of the visas for Michael and his wife Tatiana even though the player’s contract with the club has ended.
Fatialofa is also receiving specialist rehabilitation treatment from Warriors following his remarkable progress after an injury which saw him receive extended specialist hospital treatment and has now resulted in bills of £100,000.
In their statement the co-owners say: “We are concerned and disappointed to hear that Michael has received a bill for unpaid medical fees. There are no unpaid fees owed by the club, our booking made by RugbyCare has already been paid in full. But we will work closely with the hospital and local Clinical Commissioning Group to understand any issues and help resolve the situation to ensure that Michael can concentrate solely on his rehabilitation at Sixways with the full and continued support of the club.
“We will continue to go over and above what is expected of the club to support Michael and Tatiana, financially and practically.”
Warriors paid for four weeks of care at the Royal Buckinghamshire Private Hospital when no NHS bed was available at Stoke Mandeville following his release from the Intensive Care Unit of St Mary’s Hospital in London.
The club has revealed in their statement: “At the expiry of the four weeks the NHS were still not ready to provide a bed and Royal Bucks had to continue providing care until the NHS was ready to transfer Michael. In situations such as this a claim is made to the Clinical Commissioning Group which the club’s doctor, Nick Tait, made sure was done.
“The club heard nothing further and RugbyCare have confirmed they were never asked to authorise or fund a further extension by the Royal Bucks. Michael remained in the Royal Bucks until he was discharged in early June and has since returned to Sixways where he is continuing his rehabilitation with Ryan four days a week.”
Warriors are planning to stage a fund raising day for Fatialofa when Premiership matches resume to help boost a fund for the player, which currently stands at £40,000.
The full statement from Worcester Warriors co-owners Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham: “Warriors are, and always have been, committed to supporting Michael Fatialofa in his remarkable and inspiring recovery from the serious spinal injuries he suffered in the Gallagher Premiership match at Saracens on January 4.
“Representatives of the club, including the medical team and the owners, were with Michael and his family at the hospital on the night of the accident and continue to support Michael now. We are supporting Michael’s career after rugby, funding the extension of visas for Michael and his wife, Tatiana, even though he is out of contract with the club and providing specialist rehabilitation by the club’s Head of Medical Ryan Kehoe, the most senior member of the Warriors medical team.
“When Michael was discharged from the Intensive Care Unit of St Mary’s Hospital in London in February there were no available beds in specialist spinal units through the NHS at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for two to three weeks. The club was asked to fund the first two to three weeks of private treatment in the Royal Buckinghamshire Private Hospital next door which benefited from the same consultants and had beds available.
“The club agreed to pay for four weeks in case it was needed through the RugbyCare scheme, which spreads the cost for the club.
“Stoke Mandeville is a world class spinal unit but the club had planned to increase Michael’s physiotherapy hours given his needs as a professional athlete. At the expiry of the four weeks the NHS were still not ready to provide a bed and Royal Bucks had to continue providing care until the NHS was ready to transfer Michael.
“In situations such as this a claim is made to the Clinical Commissioning Group which the club’s doctor, Nick Tait, made sure was done.
Another big name is heading to Japan's Top League.https://t.co/C4CRE6ADhK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 6, 2020
“The club heard nothing further and RugbyCare have confirmed they were never asked to authorise or fund a further extension by the Royal Bucks. Michael remained in the Royal Bucks until he was discharged in early June and has since returned to Sixways where he is continuing his rehabilitation with Ryan four days a week.
“We are concerned and disappointed to hear that Michael has received a bill for unpaid medical fees. There are no unpaid fees owed by the club, our booking made by RugbyCare has already been paid in full. But we will work closely with the hospital and local Clinical Commissioning Group to understand any issues and help resolve the situation to ensure that Michael can concentrate solely on his rehabilitation at Sixways with the full and continued support of the club.
“We will continue to go over and above what is expected of the club to support Michael and Tatiana, financially and practically.
“The fund-raising day for Michael which was scheduled to take place in April but which was postponed because of the Coronavirus pandemic will be rearranged once we have fixtures for the 2020/21 season.
While the Crusaders emerged from Saturday’s South Island derby victorious with a flattering scoreline to boot, Highlanders boss Aaron Mauger is not dismayed by what his side produced. #SuperRugbyAotearoa https://t.co/X00Y9IHBZd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 6, 2020
“Shirts, which were specially-commissioned for that day, will also go on sale shortly with the proceeds supporting the fund that has been set up for Michael which has already raised more than £40,000.
“Michael is also working closely with Lynette Cutting, our excellent Education Officer, on planning for a career away from rugby. We are proud to provide this service to our players and it is one that the vast majority benefit from, helping them to forge successful careers – inside and outside of rugby – once they have stopped, or been forced to stop, playing.
“Last year Warriors set up an Ambassador Programme and a Past Players Charitable Trust to raise money to provide support former Warriors players from the professional era and their family members in their hour of need.
“We appreciate the contribution that every single player that has worn a Warriors shirt over the years has made to the success of the club over the years. Michael and Tatiana are important and valued members of the Warriors Family and we will ensure that they are supported and cared for.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Well where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments