Alex Seyfarth has ditched the sling and is cutting up his own food, four weeks after going under the knife.
The Wests Tigers forward ruptured his left pectoral muscle in his team’s Round 23 loss to the Roosters at the SCG, undergoing surgery just a few days later.
Pectoral tears are at the serious end of the scale for sports injuries, usually requiring a three-to-four-month period of intensive rehabilitation. One month on, Seyfarth is well on the road to recovery and delighted to be out of the sling.
“It’s been pretty uncomfortable with the sling on 24-seven, particularly sleeping with it on has been tricky,” Seyfarth said.
Taking it off today after four weeks feels like my first milestone on the road to recovery."
Alex Seyfarth
"In the next week or two I can start doing some light strengthening exercises but for the first four weeks it’s been stuck in the sling to minimise movement.
"After six weeks I can start running and they say about 12-16 weeks before full contact stuff."
Seyfarth has enjoyed a relatively good run with injury since making his NRL debut in 2020. He suffered a Grade-3 MCL tear (knee) last year but until now, had never required surgery.
“It was all a bit strange getting put under the anaesthetic and all that. I felt giddy for a bit after the operation but it wasn’t too bad," he said.
"One of the hardest things after the surgery was cutting up my own food.
My partner Rebekah had to cut up my food for a couple of weeks so I know she’s happy I’m finally out of the sling."
Alex Seyfarth
Seyfarth is hoping to get back to full strength before the end of the year.
“If all goes according to plan I should be back doing full contact just before Christmas, so my pre-season won’t be too affected.
"I’ve got a lot of rehab to do so that will be my focus over the next couple of months while most of the boys are on a break.”
