Caithness rugby player airlifted to Raigmore
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PLAY was delayed at a rugby match in Thurso at the weekend after a Caithness RFC player had to be airlifted to Raigmore Hospital.
Callum Hill (29) broke his ankle in the first half of Saturday's game at Millbank against Gordonians in National League Division Three.
Caithness president George Sinclair said the injury happened while players came together in a maul which became a moving scrum. Hill broke away on his own and was tackled by the opposition.
An ambulance arrived on the scene to take away the player, known as Hilly. However, shortly afterwards arrangements were made for an air ambulance to come.
The match was delayed for around 30 minutes and the referee had to clear the players off the ground while the helicopter landed on the second pitch.
Hill, originally from Coupar Angus, has played for Caithness for the past year and a half, and he had just come back after a shoulder injury.
The player, who works at Dounreay, has undergone an operation on his ankle.
Interim coach George Sutherland said that Hill had dislocated his right ankle and broken his leg. “It was pretty nasty.”
Paying tribute to the health specialists at the match, he said: “They did a great job.”
He said they potentially saved his foot by resetting it at the side of the field.
Gordonians, the league leaders, were ahead 17-3 when the air ambulance arrived. They went on to add another 12 points in the remaining 10 minutes to win 29-3.
