Bang to nose left rugby star bedbound after rare infection spread to his bones

A Wales international rugby player lost 7kg (15lb) in weight and was left bedbound after what seemed like an innocuous bang to the nose.

The injury happened while Sam Davies, 32, was playing for Grenoble in January, and despite heavy bleeding, he continued playing.

Weeks later, doctors discovered he had staph infection - which is caused by staphylococcus, a germ that lives in the nose of one in three people and can enter the body through a cut.

By this point, it had spread to his bones, leaving him with no feeling in his legs and in agonising pain.

While treatment is tackling the infection, it is unclear when he will be able to return to playing.

Reflecting on a nightmare few months, Davies said: "I think the positive thing for me to try and keep a hold of is the fact that I'm better, I'm walking around.

"I've come from a place where I was completely kind of unable to walk, to being able to walk around and do everyday tasks. And, I think that was the first protocol to start with, was just to get back to normal.

"So I'm back to normal in terms of everyday living. I've just got to get back to rugby protocol."

Microbiologist Dr Sarah Hooper said Davies' "severe" case would have been difficult to diagnose because his symptoms were "quite vague".

She added: "It [the infection] would be more difficult to treat as it's moved around the body and is well established [before it was detected]."

Generally, people with the infection have painful lumps, blisters of swollen skin - but he had no obvious signs, with what looked like burns appearing on his foot only after it had taken hold.

At its worst, it left him unable to get up off the sofa, or to shower - but he is now looking at slowly getting back to life with his young family.

Swansea-born Davies was named world junior player of the year in 2013 after helping Wales reach the final of the under-20s World Cup.

He started his professional career with the Ospreys, before playing for the Newport-based Dragons, winning eight caps for Wales.

In 2023, he and wife Elianna set off for a new adventure, as he tried to help Grenoble gain promotion to France's elite Top14.

Baby Vienna was born during their time in France, and she was just nine months old when the ordeal started in January.

"It's been a really difficult few months mentally and physically," Davies said.

"I wasn't able to do even the most basic of tasks, so it felt like my wife had two babies."

Describing what happened, he said: "I took quite a nasty blow about 50 minutes in.

"It wasn't broken, but the inside was very messed up… it just kept bleeding.

"I thought it would be fine as it didn't feel like anything more than a bang."

Despite heavy bleeding and a deviated septum, Davies continued playing.

The outside half had just returned from a four-month lay-off because of a shoulder injury, so was keen to stay on the pitch.

He finished the game, and it wasn't until a few days later that he started to feel unwell.

Elianna described how a few days after the match, Davies began experiencing stiffness in his hips and had difficulty carrying out basic movements.

Initially, they thought it was from playing, as his role as an outside half involves a lot of kicking, both from hand, while Davies is also Grenoble's main goalkicker.

But Elianna said: "Sam woke me up around 4am quite scared because he couldn't move his legs, and asked me to call an ambulance."

However, because of a language barrier, she found it difficult conveying the seriousness of Davies' condition to emergency staff over the phone, so had to try and carry the 13 stone 2lb (84g) Davies to their car.

She then rushed him to hospital.

While Davies speaks some French, he found it difficult conveying just how much pain he was in, and he spent eight days in hospital undergoing tests.

While these showed signs of Staphylococcus, he was sent home with pain relief.

It was not until two weeks later the infection was confirmed, by which point it had spread to his bones.

According to Public Health Wales, Staph infection is a bacterial infection caused by staphylococcus - a germ that lives in the nose of one in three people.

It can enter the body through a cut.

Symptoms of Staph infection can include:

• a painful red lump or bump
• hot, red and swollen skin
• sores, crusts or blisters
• sore, red eyelids or eyes

In most cases, it can be treated with antibiotics.

However, if left untreated, it can become far more serious if the bacteria spreads to the organs, bloodstream or bones.

Dr Sarah Hooper, a reader in Microbiology and Infection at the Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, said a case as severe as Davies' isn't very common.

The player believes the fact he sustained the cut on a 4G pitch might have been a factor.

Dr Hooper said: "There's been a few studies that have looked at the types of bacteria on artificial turf and generally the organisms that you tend to see there are of human origin, so they've come from the skin, sweat or saliva and you find staphylococcus very commonly in both.

"There's been some research done that has found you can get transmission from athletes on artificial turf, and the bacteria can survive there for several days.

"On this type of turf you often get burns, and because the skin is broken, if bacteria is already there, that's it's way of getting in and causing an infection."

Davies is set to have a pelvic scan and may need stronger antibiotics, as his orthopaedic surgeon believes there could still be some of the bacteria in his body.

"I will more than likely play again, it's not a career-ender," he said.

"But part of me thinks how long that could have gone on for?

"It really could have spread further and further, then my career would have really been in jeopardy."

He has been treated at CHU Grenoble Alpes, and the hospital said: "In accordance with applicable regulations and medical confidentiality requirements, we are not in a position to disclose any personal or medical information concerning patients treated within our institution."