Footballer needed hospital treatment after injury from artificial pitch

Thursday 03 March 2016

A footballer needed hospital treatment including an IV drip after an infection caused by the new 3G pitch at Haute Vallee School.

Jonny Grimshaw (25), who works in finance, had to be placed on an IV drip and needed the infection drained at the hospital when his leg swelled up a few days after playing on the pitch.

He says that the doctors at the hospital told him that they had seen more and more cases since the new artificial playing surfaces have been introduced in Jersey.

But the Health department say that they haven’t seen a big increase, and have offered advice to anyone who picks up a cut or graze on the pitches – they say they should be washed with clean water and treated with anti-sceptic, and if it looks like it’s become infected, people should check it out with their GPs first.

Mr Grimshaw said that he got a bad graze playing last Thursday night, but within days it had become a real problem.

He said: “It healed overnight and by Friday it had swollen up quite considerably and I woke up on Saturday, and from my knee to my ankle it had gone red and was swollen. I was at A&E that night and they put me on an IV drip – I was there until 1 am. I had to go back the next morning to get it drained.

 “It seems to be something that’s happening to a lot of people, even young kids playing are coming away with cuts and grazes.

“At the hospital, they were of the opinion that these 3G pitches are terrible and the amount of people coming in has multiplied. It’s obviously dirty and things get caught in grazes and then they heal over the top of it.

“I was there the other day and everyone had massive grazes along their legs. No-one wants to go in for a tackle on those pitches.

“The doctor told me that if I had left it a bit longer it could have been worse.”

The Health department say that they have not seen a particular increase – but Emergency Department Consultant Dr Rob Greig said that often infections were from bugs on peoples’ skin, and not from the playing surface itself.

He also set out how people should treat grazes and cuts from the surfaces.

Dr Greig said: “Anecdotally we have not seen lots of cases of this type, or any sudden noticeable increase in presentations. We do see occasional cases – these are akin to carpet burns; sometimes the wound clears up naturally, although it’s possible it may become infected  – usually the bug that infects the skin is actually from the patient’s own skin, not from the surface that’s caused the abrasion.

“It’s not necessary to attend the Emergency Department in most cases. Sensible first aid precautions would be to wash the affected area clean with copious fresh water and to apply antiseptic – although this will sting! When a scab develops, don’t pick it, and if the scab is over an area of skin that needs to flex, for example the knee cap, the scab can be made flexible with Vaseline, applied two to three times a day. Anyone concerned that a wound may have become infected should seek advice from their GP.”