Springbok fullback Willie le Roux underwent an appendectomy this weekend after experiencing severe stomach pain.
Le Roux told Sunday newspaper Rapport that he had a stomach ache on Tuesday evening, which he figured was probably from pasta that he had eaten.
On Wednesday, Le Roux managed to go for a 10km run, but felt the pain getting worse while going for a shoot for an advertisement. Later that day, he saw a doctor and was given an injection and Gaviscon – to relieve indigestion.
However, the pain was still not relieved while Le Roux went to braai at his parents’ house on Wednesday evening and after it became unbearable on Thursday morning, his mother took him to the Somerset West Mediclinic at 5pm.
‘I was admitted immediately and given morphine for the pain,’ Le Roux said. ‘I could only be operated on in late afternoon when there was space in the operating theater.
‘The doctor said that my appendix – which he removed – was full of bacteria. He was afraid that I might get an infection, he wanted to keep me in the hospital until at least Saturday or Sunday.
‘I was really shocked,’ Le Roux added. ‘It was a pain that I had never experienced. The doctor said afterwards that if I had waited a day longer, my appendix would have burst. I got a massive scare and can’t even describe the pain that I was experiencing.’
