Matthew Hayden, the former Australia opener, sustained neck and facial injuries while out surfing with his son over the weekend near Brisbane.
Most reports mentioned injuries to the neck and the face, while a few also suggested that Hayden had hurt his spine, but he appeared in fine spirits when sharing the news on social media, saying he had ‘dodged a bullet’.
According to the social media posts put out by the champion opening batsman, who scored 8625 runs in 103 Tests and 6133 runs in 161 one-day internationals, he was out holidaying with his family in Stradbroke Island, near Brisbane.
“Game over for a few days,” the 46-year-old wrote first, before sharing photographs of himself with a neck brace in place and nasty-looking abrasions on his forehead.
The later post started went: “Ok. Last attention seeking post I promise. Just wanted to say a big thank you to all our mates on Straddie who have been so supportive. Especially Ben & Sue Kelley for the fast diagnosis with MRI, CT scan. Fractured C6, torn C5, C4 ligaments safe to say I truly have dodged a bullet.
“Thank you everyone. On the road to recovery.”
