RUGBY NEWS - There was a smattering of good news – for some very good reasons – when the Vodacom Bulls announced that Walt Steenkamp would return to the training field this week with his teammates.
While Steenkamp isn’t able to play yet and will need a few more weeks before he is ready for selection, the green light was given by a cardiologist for him to return after he picked up an irregular heartbeat after the big lock’s bout with Covid some months ago.
He is the first professional rugby player in the country to have picked up complications after contracting Covid.
Steenkamp was part of a group of players that contracted the virus during the Vodacom Super Rugby Unlocked Series at the beginning of the year, but while others recovered better, he struggled with his heartbeat and was forced to undergo surgery because of it, taking him away from the rugby field.
“After I had Covid they did tests on my heart and lungs before I could return,” he explains. “They found that my heart rhythm was out – the upper chambers of the heart beat faster than the lower chambers.
“That was on 7 January, and I saw a Cardiologist who tried a procedure where they try and shock your heart to see if they can restore the rhythm, but it wasn’t successful.”
Steenkamp then saw a specialist, who suggested Cardiac Ablation - a procedure that scars tissue in your heart to block abnormal electrical signals. It is used to restore a normal heart rhythm.
“Doctors told me because I’m still young I can do the operation sooner rather than later to sort the issue out,” Steenkamp said.
Steenkamp underwent surgery on 21 January and has been slowly on the recovery road ever since.
The fact that he has been given the green light is cause for celebration – not only for the Bulls who will want him back in action sooner rather than later, but also for those concerned about the stress that Covid has on professional athletes as sport tries to resume some sort of normality going forward.
