NZ Veteran’s Serious Eye Injury

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

It looked just like any other battle for possession in a game, but an innocuous incident has seen Tom Abercrombie rushed back to New Zealand for surgery on his eye.

The Breakers veteran copped an accidental poke in the eye from big man Aron Baynes during Sunday’s game against the Bullets in Darwin, and immediately left the court.

“I came off and just lost a portion of my vision in that eye,” he told the New Zealand Breakers’ website.

“I didn’t think there was really think there was too much to it, but eyes are pretty sensitive things so I went off to see the doctor and the specialist.

“They found a pretty significant tear in there and I had to rush back to New Zealand to try and go and see the surgeon. I’m booked in tonight (Tuesday) to go and get that fixed up.”

Initially, there were fears Abercrombie could miss up to three months of basketball.

“I’ve had a range of options for recovery time. A surgeon in Australia was talking, depending on the options, anywhere from two weeks to three months,” he revealed.

“Seeing the specialist in New Zealand it was the same thing, but based on the different types of surgeries, I’m hoping this option is in the one-to-two week recovery zone.

“The other option is six weeks with a pretty significant time lying in a certain position post-surgery, where you’re not allowed to move.

“I’m not going to know until tomorrow morning what the recovery time is and how that recovery works … I’m a little bit in the dark.”

Abercrombie is the Breakers’ all-time games leader, with 371 appearances across 14 seasons, to go with four NBL championships.