Caithness rugby fan suffers touchline injury
That is more than can be said for die-hard supporter Hilda Morrison.
The late drama in the RBS Caledonia League 1 match proved just too much to bear for Hilda as the Greens, then trailing 17-16, were awarded a penalty in the last play of the match. As full back Gary Mackay sized up the kick at Millbank playing fields, she was unable to witness the outcome.
“I just couldn’t bear to watch so I turned round and just hoped I’d hear the cheers so I’d know the kick had gone over.
“But as I spun round, I tripped on a kerbstone and fell to the ground. I was down before I realised the penalty had gone over and we had won.”
Despite being in a fair amount of pain, she joined the players and officials at the post-match hospitality in the town’s Comm Bar.
“I didn’t realise then how bad it was,” said Hilda, who runs Naver Business Centre in Thurso.
“When it comes to pain, I’m pretty stubborn and have a pretty high threshold.”
Her right wrist got steadily worse and by the time she returned home to Scarfskerry, an ominous golf ball-sized swelling had set in.
She recalled: “I had gone to take the dogs for a walk when I collapsed in a heap.
“Apparently my blood pressure had gone really low and my body had gone into shock.”
Her friend Teda Body drove her to Caithness General Hospital in Wick where she had her injury X-rayed and underwent tests to ensure she had not suffered any other problems.
She was found to have fractures of her wrist and elbow and was kept under observation before being released with her arm in a sling the following evening.
“I suppose I should have gone to hospital right away but I really didn’t think it was that bad initially,” she said.
The injury did not stop Hilda, the club’s only female honorary vice-president and an executive committee member, from going to the Greens’ next game, away to Highland in Inverness on Saturday.
She said: “I chickened out of going down on the team coach as I was afraid I would bump my injured arm. We decided to take the car but we joined the players, officials and supporters when they stopped for something to eat after the game.
“It was also an exciting game and it was a really tense finish before we won 19-13 but I made sure that this time I kept my feet firmly on the ground.”
Colin Sangster, Caithness senior coach and club development officer, said everybody at the club wished Hilda a speedy recovery.