- The son of a football legend had his eye gouged out
- Ethan O’Neill suffered a fractured eye socket
- He is the son of former Broncos star Julian O’Neill.
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Broncos star Ethan O’Neill was driven from Sydney to Brisbane after the youngster suffered a fractured eye socket following an accidental cut to his eye.
O’Neill, son of former Brisbane and Queensland star Julian O’Neill, was accidentally hit by Manly opponent Bailey Hodgson on Saturday, with the back-rower sticking his finger deep into O’Neill’s eyeball.
The 24-year-old was rushed to the Northern Beaches, where he learned he had fractured his eye socket. The severity of the injury meant O’Neill was not allowed to fly to his home in Brisbane and was instead driven home by a club official.
“My eyes felt like they were burning,” O’Neill told the Sydney Morning Herald. ‘It’s not fun. It’s not ideal. I was trying to score a try, I tried to hit and spin, but as I spun, his [Hodgson’s] His hands caught my face.
‘I immediately grabbed my eye and it stung. The pressure was like the pressure you feel behind your eyes when you’re on a plane.
Broncos star Ethan O’Neill had his eye gouged out during a game over the weekend.
Manly rival Bailey Hodgson stuck his finger deep in O’Neill’s eyeball
He suffered a fractured socket and will be out for up to six weeks
‘When I walked towards the sheds, my eyeball immediately swelled. I was seeing double. “I looked in the mirror and thought, ‘What the fuck?’ and I started getting stressed.”
A still image from the gruesome video went viral and attracted responses from the likes of Reece Walsh. O’Neill says he has still not heard from Hodgson after the incident.
‘I never knew about [Hodgson], but I don’t know if he knew the magnitude of the damage it caused to my face. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional and it was just an accident. There’s a one in a million chance of that happening.
“I left the hospital around 2:30 a.m., then one of the Broncos employees took a bullet for me, rented a car and took me back. I got home around nine on Sunday night.
O’Neill will now be sidelined for up to six weeks. He says the timing of the setback is frustrating as the 24-year-old is desperate for a new contract.
“It’s a shame because I’m fighting for a contract,” he added. “I won the NSW Cup with Souths last year, then I got a call from ‘Kevvy’ [Kevin Walters] on a train and test. I signed with the Burleigh Bears.
‘The aim is to continue testing the NRL this year. I will continue to work hard to get to that point. “I think it will happen, it’s just a matter of time.”