Sports is the principle medium of entertainment throughout the world. It is the perfect way to keep the body fit. It also helps to maintain a healthy mental status. But it is a fact that sometimes injuries occur, making it hard to lead a healthy life. Every year, there are around 30 million people are participating in sporting events all over United States. Among them 3 million sustain serious physical injuries, which are well enough to ruin their career. Especially, some specific sports, which require physical contact such as American football or rugby are expected to result in a higher number of worst sports injuries. However, all kinds of sports have the potential to cause injury either from overuse or misuse of the different body parts.
Today, we will be mentioning some of the gruesome injuries in sport’s history. The injuries may have been regarded as the series of unfortunate events. Perhaps, it’s the high time to show what real sports injuries look like. In this article, we will be talking about arm bending, knee twisting, dislocated elbows, which eventually resulted in the end of career for the athletes.
Warning: The article you are about to read is about horrific sports injuries. It will be better for a weak hearted person to avoid the content and stop here.
Top 10 Worst Sports Injuries of All-time
10. Navorro Bowman
Sport: American Football
Team: San Francisco 49ers
Sustained injuries: Torn ACL/MCL
The San Francisco 49ers player, Navorro Bowman suffered the nastiest knee injury American football fans had ever seen in real time. it was in 2014 NFC Championship, when San Francisco 49ers was playing against the Seattle Seahawks. The 2013-14 Pro Bowl Selection, Navorro Bowman recorded 145 tackles and five sacks for the 49ers in that NFL season before tearing his ACL and MCL of left knee. The injury he sustained could have been much more worse, but still he underwent surgery. Bowman is expected to recover soon and will come back to join his teammates.
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9. Rashad Johnson
Sport: American Football
Team: Arizona Cardinals
Sustained injury: Severed finger tip
It isn’t so familiar for an athlete to lose a finger while playing, even in American football. But after all, as it is American football, anything can happen during the terrible collision. Cardinals’ Rashad Johnson severed his middle finger tip during the 3rd week of 2013-14 NFL season, when he jammed it into the ground. However, Johnson primarily thought his finger was caught in an opponent’s facemask. Later, he found that his gloves wasn’t torn or ripped and it was probably due to his mistimed landing on the ground. The Arizona Cardinals came out with special foam finger for him as soon as possible which had ripped of tip of middle finger to show some solidarity. The injury is considered as one of the worst sports injuries in American football.
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8. Tim Hudson
Sport: Baseball
Team: Atlanta Braves
Sustained injury: Broken ankle
Atlanta Braves’ starting pitcher Tim Hudson was covering the first base on a ground ball. Then suddenly, Eric Young Jr. when trying to beat out the throw, he unintentionally stepped on Hudson’s ankle. Due to that massive physical blow, his ankle went bend in a disturbing manner and he was sent out of the field with a stretcher. His injury is spotted among the worst sports injuries of all time. Before sustaining that massive ankle injury, Tim Hudson was recorded to catch the ball from Freddie Freeman.
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7. Kevin Ware
Sport: Basketball
Team: Louisville Cardinals
Sustained injury: Broken leg
Broken leg is a common sports injury and it occurs every now and then especially in Basketball. But, the Kevin Ware’s case was different as the accident would follow him for the rest of his career. The mishap occurred during the 2013 NCAA Tournament, when Ware was about to contest a three point attempt in the first half of Louisville’s Elite Eight matchup against the Dukes. Kevin Ware broke his leg landing awkwardly and found his leg snapped at a right angle. His broken tibia pierced through the skin, making it as one of the most gruesome sports injuries.
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6. Clint Malarchuk
Sport: Ice hockey
Team: Buffalo Sabres
Sustained injury: Lacerated Throat
The accident took place on March 22, 1989. The Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk experienced a nasty collision in front of his net. The skate went Malarchuk’s jugular when the two players were fighting each others. Soon the ice was covered with his blood poured from his neck. The injury Malarchuk sustained was one of the life threatening worst sports injuries. He was promptly carried out to the hospital where he received around 300 stitches in the severed neck. After Malarchuk’s injury, all ice hockey goalies are now required to wear neck protection.
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5. Wilis McGahee
Sport: American football
Team: University of Miami Hurricanes
Sustained injuries: Torn ACL, MCL and PCL
Willis McGahee sustained a college-career ending injury in the 2002 National Championship game. With 12 minutes remaining at the clock, he caught a screen pass at the half field and tried to juke back with the ball. Then suddenly, he faced a massive tackle around the 40-yard line by an Ohio State defender. As a consequence, McGahee’s leg bent under the weight of the pile up and all the major ligaments of his knee were torn instance. The game was set to be his final as a college athlete before he was later drafted in NFL by the the Buffalo Bills.
 4. Jessica Dube
Sport: Figure Skating
Nation: Canada
Sustained injury: Lacerated cheek
Figure skating is a beautiful game to watch. The game mesmerizes millions of viewers all over the world. Even this charming game on ice isn’t free from unfortunate injuries. Here is Jessica Dube of Quebec, Canada, who sustained one of the most horrible sports injuries. She won several figure skating championships along with his partner. They also represented Canada at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic games. The accident occurred in February, 2007, when the partner Bryce Davison’s skate blade went through Dube’s face at the Four Continent Championship in Colorado Springs. Jessica Dube was taken to hospital immediately and bleeding was stopped by giving 83 stitches on her left cheek. Later, she was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. After recovering from the injury, she returned to the ice with the same partner. Jessica Dube’s accident stands at no. 4 in our list of top 10 worst sports injuries of all-time.
3. Steve Moore
Sport: Ice hockey
Team: Colorado Avalanche
Sustained injury: Broken vertebrae
It was in March 8, 2004, when Colorado Avalanche was playing a very close game against the Vancouver Canucks. The match ended with the Avalanche forward Steve Moore being carried off on a stretcher. Canucks’ Todd Bertuzzi was the main culprit behind that incident. He skated onto the ice, then grabbed Moore’s jersey and punched him in the head. As a result, Moore’s motionless body smashed onto the ice with Bertuzzi on top of him and again rest of the players went after Bertuzzi. As a consequence, Steve Moore sustained three broken vertebrae, facial concussion and laceration. The injury ended his career and he filed a criminal assault charges against Todd Bertuzzi.
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2. Mike Cameron
Sport: Baseball
Team: New York Mets
Sustained injuries: Broken nose and jaw
The accident occurred when the New York Mets’ outfielders Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran ran full speed to catch a pop fly and ended up in a massive collision in the air. The entire ballpark went silent and the medics immediately moved forward. Mike Cameron took off the field with broken nose and several other fractures which required surgery. On the other hand, Beltran suffered only a minor injury with concussion and minimal facial abrasion following that collision. It was one of the worst sports injuries sustained by the athletes. It was also the most violent outfield collision in baseball.
 1. Joe Theismann
Sport: American football
Team: Washington Redskins
Sustained injury: Broken leg
The number 1 in our list of top 10 worst sports injuries of all time is the Joe Theismann’s broken leg incident. It is one of many examples of why the NFL quarterbacks require so much toughness in the field. The accident occurred in 18 November, 1985. The Redskins’ quarterback Theismann was dropped back inside the pocket to throw a pass. There he met Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, whose knee came down on Theismann’s right leg, breaking both tibia and fibula in a nasty way. Following the injury, Theismann was forced to retire from NFL at 36 and remains shorter than his left leg. The Theismann injury later bore a great significance becoming the principle reason why the left tackle is paid so high, in order to protect the quarterback at all costs available. Thus, American football is more susceptible to injuries than any other sports. The footballers need to acquire a extreme physique here. Moreover, American football is the most popular sports in United States.
So just to be clear…. a broken leg ranks as the worst sports injury, while a cut jugular is 6th? Seriously….
so true