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Monster Roosters prop De La Salle Va’a’s has suffered a huge scare after being admitted to hospital coughing up blood on the eve of his club’s season opener against the Broncos on Thursday night.
Sport Confidential can reveal Va’a, a giant of a man at 121kg, has been re-admitted to hospital for a second time on Wednesday and is being monitored by specialists over a mystery illness.
The 19-year-old’s ordeal comes just weeks after his older brother Xavier, also with the Roosters, first went to hospital following a cut on his arm which became infected.
While Xavier is now in the clear, the news is more serious for De La Salle, who had an initial seven-day stint in hospital, then checked out, before returning again as his symptoms worsened.
De La Salle made his NRL debut last year and was hopeful of playing in round 1, only to return to a Sydney hospital as doctors try to get to the bottom of his health ordeal.
His manager Trevor Conroy said it’s been a testing period for the Va’a family.
“Xavier got pretty crook first, but as he got better, De La Salle became sick,” Conroy said.
“He had massive temperatures and was in emergency for 18 hours before they finally admitted him.
“No-one can figure out what’s wrong with him.
“De La Salle hurt his hip a few weeks ago and they think it could have been a haematoma that got infected and went to his kidneys and lungs.
“He was coughing up blood.
“De La Salle’s mum is a doctor so she asked for CTs (scans) to be done of his lungs, they were worried about blood clotting.”
Conroy says doctors are confident Va’a will make a full recovery and praised the Roosters club for their support.
“Trent Robinson (Roosters coach) went to the hospital to visit him which De La Salle really appreciated,” he said.
“It’s been pretty serious. They had a lung specialist come in to De La Salle, as well as a disease specialist.
“They have a few theories, either a haematoma that got infected or he got a scratch or wound that may have got a major bug.
“He will make a full recovery but he went back to hospital (on Wednesday morning) for some antibiotics.
“He is in the best of care. He was hoping to play round one but it might take six to 12 weeks before his body is back to normal to play.”
Sport Confidential can reveal Va’a, a giant of a man at 121kg, has been re-admitted to hospital for a second time on Wednesday and is being monitored by specialists over a mystery illness.
The 19-year-old’s ordeal comes just weeks after his older brother Xavier, also with the Roosters, first went to hospital following a cut on his arm which became infected.
While Xavier is now in the clear, the news is more serious for De La Salle, who had an initial seven-day stint in hospital, then checked out, before returning again as his symptoms worsened.
De La Salle made his NRL debut last year and was hopeful of playing in round 1, only to return to a Sydney hospital as doctors try to get to the bottom of his health ordeal.
His manager Trevor Conroy said it’s been a testing period for the Va’a family.
“Xavier got pretty crook first, but as he got better, De La Salle became sick,” Conroy said.
“He had massive temperatures and was in emergency for 18 hours before they finally admitted him.
“No-one can figure out what’s wrong with him.
“De La Salle hurt his hip a few weeks ago and they think it could have been a haematoma that got infected and went to his kidneys and lungs.
“He was coughing up blood.
“De La Salle’s mum is a doctor so she asked for CTs (scans) to be done of his lungs, they were worried about blood clotting.”
Conroy says doctors are confident Va’a will make a full recovery and praised the Roosters club for their support.
“Trent Robinson (Roosters coach) went to the hospital to visit him which De La Salle really appreciated,” he said.
“It’s been pretty serious. They had a lung specialist come in to De La Salle, as well as a disease specialist.
“They have a few theories, either a haematoma that got infected or he got a scratch or wound that may have got a major bug.
“He will make a full recovery but he went back to hospital (on Wednesday morning) for some antibiotics.
“He is in the best of care. He was hoping to play round one but it might take six to 12 weeks before his body is back to normal to play.”
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