X-rays have confirmed that Kory Roberts has broken his fibula and tibia and will now face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The young defender went down holding his leg after colliding with Ryan Sweeney in the Saddlers' pre-season friendly defeat to Stoke and required oxygen before leaving the field on a stretcher.
An update from physio Marc Czuczman...
I left after the final whistle to join Kory in A&E where they were removing the frac-pack and putting a temporary cast on to stabilise and support. The staff team monitored him and administered pain relief and intravenous fluids after they had taken and assessed his bloods. The Gaffer visited on his way home before we went down for X-ray which confirmed double fracture, both tibia and fibula clearly broken on the images as suspected. After a consultation he was allowed to eat and drink as they were not going to do surgery that night. Once he was settled in a holding room he started to feel tired and got some rest. Before he was moved to the ward, Ama visited to bring Kory his belongings after Maz had taken his car to Ama’s house so as not to leave it at the stadium. He also had contact with family and friends as well as a couple of other visitors.
Once I returned home I contacted the lead orthopaedic trauma surgeon, Mr Kundra, who has a long history in Sports Medicine and works in both Private practice and the NHS, having worked with elite athletes around the world. He kindly contacted his on call team in the area so they are fully aware of Kory’s injury and situation.
Kory handled the whole situation amazingly and, despite being uncomfortable, was in good spirits at the hospital when I left him. He always has a smile on his face and even in this situation was still laughing despite all that what was going on around him.
I just want to thank everyone involved for what was a successful and controlled evacuation from the pitch. The Stoke City staff were amazingly generous with their assistance and expertise, our paramedic Gemma from WMAS was on hand with the oxygen and pain relief, the stretcher bearer team were stable and controlled as ever and the SJA team mobilised their Ambulance and transferred him to hospital. Great team effort.