Katoa in hospital recovering from seizure activity, brain bleeding

Eliesa Katoa is stable and recovering in a hospital in New Zealand after suffering a series of head knocks before and during Tonga’s Pacific Cup loss to the Kiwis that led to seizure activity and brain bleeding and required the star to use an oxygen mask.

The Storm second rower was hit in the head during the warm-up, colliding with teammate Lehi Hopoate, but was still then allowed to play — and most notably, did not undergo a head injury assessment pre-match.

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Katoa was then hit a second time, 10 minutes into the 40–14 loss, when he collided with Will Penisini. He was deemed to have passed the HIA that followed that friendly fire incident and returned to the field. A third strike to the head came in the second half, when he was tackling Naufahu Whyte. He again departed the field and this time was ruled to have failed his assessment.

Things turned south when he was on the bench; the 25-year-old suffered seizure activity and was rushed to the hospital in a medicab. There, he was ruled to have suffered bleeding on the brain as a result of at least one of the contacts.

“Eli Katoa was taken to hospital after suffering seizure activity on the bench during the second half of yesterday’s Pacific Championships match between Tonga and New Zealand,” the Melbourne club said in a statement.

“Eli underwent surgery overnight and is in a stable condition, being supported by his partner and mother.

“Storm staff remain in close contact with the hospital and Tonga’s team chief medical officer.”

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The Storm have already begun investigating what happened during the match and why protocols were not followed. So too the RLPA chief operating officer, Luke Ellis, who today said his organisation would be making enquiries with the NRL about the circumstances that led to Katoa’s surgery.

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Tonga coach Kristian Woolf has already spoken out in defence of the doctors who made the ruling, suggesting they’re very experienced and that they had “done their usual HIA” when required. “My job is not to question doctors,” he said. “They were both comfortable with that and comfortable with him coming back onto the field. So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there in terms of the process.”

The second rower has also since shared a social post for fans. “Appreciate everyone for checking in,” Katoa said in an Instagram story. “Sorry if I haven’t got back to any of you guys, but I really appreciate all the love and the messages Ofa atu [I love you].”

There’s no clear timeline on when Katoa may be able to return to training, let alone playing.