Have you ever wondered which are the most gruesome injuries suffered during a sports match? We guarantee that the wounds in our list will make you shudder, look away, and perhaps even reconsider your love for sports. Professional sports are hardcore, and so are the injuries players suffer in each brutal match they dare to play. We didn’t include extreme sports or any discipline that includes fighting, just good old-fashioned team sports. The result is more revolting than you can even imagine.
If you are a sports fan with a taste for glory rather than for gore, make sure you don’t miss our encouraging list It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over: The 10 Most Incredible Comebacks in Sports History.
Now then, prepare yourself for the gruesomeness that is about to ensue. If you’re ready, let’s go ahead and take a look at the revolting countdown and find out which are the most gruesome injuries suffered during a sports match.
6. Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltrán
Sport: Baseball
Year: 2005
Injury: Facial fractures and concussions
I can’t decide whether this injury is more gruesome than funny or the other way around. On August 11, 2005, Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltrán, both MLB players for the New York Mets, collided in the air after they both attempted to catch a pop fly. After their head-to-head encounter both players were seriously injured, especially Cameron who suffered several facial fractures. Beltrán got a concussion and had to deal with vertigo for a while. Eventually both of them recovered and were able to play again.
Number six was a frightening event for everyone involved, but five more of the most gruesome injuries suffered during a sports match are coming up, and they’re even worse. Check them out, if you dare.
5. Ewald Lienen
Sport: Soccer
Year: 1981
Injury: Leg wound
On August 14th, 1981, German soccer player Ewald Lienen suffered one of the grossest injuries in the history of soccer. We chose this particular case because most leg injuries in this sport are fractures, but Lienen’s 25 cm wound on his right leg is probably more revolting than any broken leg could ever be. Lienen got his memorable, deep and disgusting wound after Norbert Siegmann slashed him with his studded footwear. Surprisingly enough, 17 days and 23 stitches later, Lienen was back on the field.
4. Joe Theismann
Sport: Football
Year: 1985
Injury: Compound fracture of the tibia and fibula
If not the most gruesome injury in NFL history, Joe Theismann’s broken leg is definitely the most famous one, or rather the most infamous one. The football pro was forced to retire from the NFL altogether after his lesion because during his recovery his bone didn’t grow as expected, leaving him with one leg shorter than the other. The quarterback’s flea-flicker gone badly will be forever remembered by those who were watching that Monday Night game live.
3. Wayne Shelford
Sport: Rugby
Year: 1986
Injury: Scrotum torn open and four teeth lost
The All Blacks are probably the roughest rugby team around, and Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford lived up to the fame of his team. Only 20 minutes into a match New Zealand was playing against France, Shelford got caught under a ruck; nothing too unusual in this aggressive sport. However, when a French player accidentally hit Shelford with his spikes on the groin, things turned from ordinary to extraordinary. Buck’s scrotum was torn open and his testicle dangled freely. Amazingly he was stitched up shortly afterwards and kept on playing. Oh, he also lost four teeth in the process, a minor injury compared to the other…
2. Kevin Ware
Sport: Basketball
Year: 2013
Injury: Compound leg fracture
College basketball games we expect to be a little bit calmer than NBA games, but are they? Kevin Ware’s disgusting broken leg proves that contact sports are equally dangerous at all levels. During the 2013 NCAA Tournament, in a match between Louisville and Duke, Ware attempted to block a three-point shot and fell down awkwardly. His leg snapped, and so did his fellow players, the coaches and the crowd; everyone was in shock and utterly revolted. I think this injury is memorable not only due to the seriousness of the broken leg itself, but also because it startled everyone on the court.
1. Clint Malarchuk
Sport: Ice Hockey
Year: 1989
Injury: Severed carotid artery
Not only is Malarchuk’s injury the ghastliest ever in sports history, but it is also one of the most dangerous and life-threatening wounds ever. Malarchuk was the goaltender of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on that March day when his team was playing against the St. Louis Blues. While chasing the puck, two rival players, Uwe Krupp and Steve Tuttle, got entangled and crashed into the Sabres’ goal. The Blues player, Tuttle, unluckily hit Malarchuk in the neck with his blade, slicing the goalie’s jugular vein. After a horror-movie blood bath, Malarchuk was rushed to the hospital where he got 300 stitches! Reports state that 11 fans fainted, two spectators suffered heart attacks and three players vomited at the sight of the gruesome incident.
