As a prop for the Chiefs Super Rugby team, Sione Mafileo is used to putting his body on the line for his sport. But he has a new perspective on his health after a freak rugby accident saw him stuck in a hospital bed instead of at his daughter’s side for her first birthday party.
“More than anything, I wanted to come home for her birthday,” tells Sione, who is now recovering with his family in Auckland’s St Heliers. “Instead, I was on FaceTime watching everyone celebrate.”
When the Weekly meets Sione and his fiancée Lucy Eskrigge it is only two weeks since he returned home. While Lucy enjoys a morning of pampering, getting her hair and make-up done, Sione happily plays with daughter Mia in the other room, making up for lost moments with his girl after almost a month in hospital.
It’s an exciting time for Sione and Lucy as they await the arrival of their second child, a baby boy due in December. Both come from big families – Lucy has three siblings and Sione has five – and they are hoping Mia enjoys having a little brother because they plan to keep growing their brood.
Happy and relieved to be home with his fiancée Lucy and daughter Mia, Sione’s looking forward to their next family adventure.
“Mia is so kind and sensitive, and always shares with us, but she is also very clingy to me, so I think she could go either way as a big sister,” tells Lucy. “I’m really close with my siblings, so I want that for my kids.”
The impending arrival of their new child is a bright spot at the end of a difficult year for the pair.
In order to play with the Chiefs, Aucklander Sione lives in Hamilton during the rugby season and in March, he felt something shift in his neck during a training session.
He knew something was wrong, and a trip to the doctor confirmed one of the discs in his neck had popped out and was pushing on the nerves.
In the blink of an eye, Sione’s first season with the team came to an abrupt end. He was put on the bench for three months to let his neck heal.
“I felt fine, I had no pain,” he tells. “But the specialist said if I kept playing and damaged it even more, I could be paralysed. Even though it sucked, it comes with the job. I just tried to keep positive.”
When there was no change three months later, Sione decided it was time for surgery in the hopes he wouldn’t have to miss any of the 2023 season.
The procedure to screw the bone back in place went perfectly and the 29-year-old felt so good, he was discharged after just a day in hospital.
Sione had surgery to put his bone back in place.
With Sione settled in at his flat in Hamilton, Lucy returned home to Auckland to relieve her mum of baby-sitting duties.
But Sione woke the next day with pain so intense, he couldn’t move. Lucy, knowing her partner was used to being battered around on the rugby field, sensed it was serious.
“He would never make me drive back so soon unless it was necessary, so I knew he was struggling,” recalls Lucy. “When I arrived, it was really scary because he was just lying there.”
She couldn’t move him on her own and called an ambulance to take Sione back to hospital.
There, his doctors adjusted his dosage of painkillers and also discovered his wound was leaking. They kept him in for two weeks to clean it out and make sure it didn’t get infected. Sadly for Sione, that meant missing Mia’s first birthday party.
When Lucy finally brought him home, she admits it was a relief. “Even though the neck brace limits what he can do, it’s so nice having him here for support,” tells the 28-year-old.
Sione was hoping for a warm welcome from his daughter, but after having shaved his head and face for surgery, he says Mia didn’t recognise him at first.
“When I got home, she was quite scared,” he says glumly. “It took her a couple of days to get used to me.”
Lucy adds, “She wouldn’t even let him hold her.”
Happily, Mia is now used to her dad’s new look and Sione says he gets a lot of joy out of small day-to-day tasks like putting her down for a nap or giving her a bath.
“I love when I get to wake her up in the morning and see her smile. She is such a cheeky girl,” he laughs.
If his recovery goes to plan, Sione should be back in the game by January. And though for years now Lucy hasn’t
felt nervous watching him play, she already feels stressed about his return to the field.
“I’m not going to watch,” she admits. “I have already told one of my friends that they have to go to the game and text me updates because I can’t look.”
