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.
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“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
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments