Injured Hull KR star Mose Masoe reveals his worries about the future

A year on from the tragic accident that wrecked his rugby league career and left him temporarily paralysed, Hull KR’s Mose Masoe has accepted he will never get back to “normal” and worries about how he will provide for his family in the future.

It was on January 12 2020 that the giant prop saw his life change forever, suffering a catastrophic spinal injury in a rudimentary tackle during Rovers’ pre-season friendly at Wakefield Trinity.

Masoe, 31, was in intensive care for four days and told he may never walk again.

He defied doctors, though, to recover and learned to walk again with the aid of crutches, his remarkable spirit and upbeat frame of mind shining through as he also helped inspire others with his relentless positivity.

Nevertheless, father-of-four Masoe still struggles with many day-to-day tasks and relies heavily on partner Carissa who – because she is not a UK citizen – does not receive a carer’s allowance. Masoe will receive an insurance payout but that is set to be no more than £50,000 leaving Robins coach Tony Smith to now predict a “bleak future” for the New Zealander , unless the family receives further help soon.

The Super League club will continue to pay his contract until it expires in November when – with his visa also running out – the Masoe family are expected to fly back to Australia where the forward played with Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers before moving to the UK initially with St Helens in 2014.

Talking to The Yorkshire Post last night, Masoe admitted: “I don’t think I’ll ever get back to normal. I know that. It’s something I’ve got to deal with and I literally don’t know what I’ll do job-wise for the rest of my life.

“What I had been planning to do after football was a hands-on job such as labouring or being some sort of builder.

“But I’d also thought about being a fireman or policeman – being outdoors and out and about.

“At the moment, though, I don’t think I’ll be able to do a job like that; I have to find a different way to earn a living. What that will be, I really don’t know at the minute.

“I’m just thankful the club are paying my contract and enabling me to stick with the rehab’ like it has. My partner’s at home at the moment and – because we’re in lockdown again – things don’t seem too different.

“Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be able to get back down to the club and see the boys to get some sort of normality again. But after that we’ll just have to see.”

Rovers are setting up a committee to organise further fund-raising campaigns to help the popular player, who joined them from St George Illawarra in 2017, and Smith conceded there has had to be some frank discussions.

The former England chief said: “We’ve all been inspired by the progress that Mose’s made.

“But a year on it’s right to sit down and assess things and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve now got some more information in terms of insurance coverage and their assessment of whether he’s going to be able to work again.

“While he’s made terrific progress, he’s still a long way from being in a position where’s he’s going to be able to provide for his family in the future. Physically, he may well have hit his peak and may well regress from where he is. We all kind of expect him to keep going and that may not be the case.”

Masoe has received invaluable support from the RL Cares charity and around 2,000 supporters have donated more than £113,000 to a Justgiving page which aims to reach £150,000.

Updates of his various levels of progress on social media have been inspiring to view and he has also appeared in a club video with Carissa. But Smith added: “That’s been his coping mechanism.

“They’ve both been so positive and so strong. They’re also very grateful for the support they’ve been given and feel a little embarrassed by coming out and saying the future could be bleak.

“He’s very proud and upbeat but at the same time they’re very worried. I had a pretty awkward conversation the other day, saying it’s time for him to tell some more of the whole story so people get the real picture.

“I think we’ve all been blinkered into thinking he’ll just keep going and he’ll make a full recovery. He’s a million miles from that and probably won’t ever get there, although I don’t want to discourage him from trying.

“We are going to organise a few events between now and when his time finishes with Hull KR and he has to leave the country to hopefully make his life a little bit easier than the bleak future it looks at the moment. If he doesn’t get any help, it’s going to be bleak.”

Former Harlequins scrum-half Lloyd Wheeldon – a serving Lance Corporal in 3 Para and British Army RU international – has joined Castleford Tigers on a one-month trial.

A serving Lance Corporal in 3 Para,

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