Wales rugby international left bedbound after rare staph infection

A Wales international rugby player lost 15lb and was left bedbound after what seemed like an innocuous bang to the nose. The injury happened while Sam Davies, 32, was playing for Grenoble in January, and despite heavy bleeding, he continued playing. Weeks later, doctors discovered he had staph infection - which is caused by staphylococcus, a germ that lives in the nose of one in three people and can enter the body through a cut. By this point, it had spread to his bones, leaving him with no feeling in his legs and in agonising pain. While treatment is tackling the infection, it is unclear when he will be able to return to playing. Reflecting on a nightmare few months, Davies said: "I think the positive thing for me to try and keep a hold of is the fact that I'm better, I'm walking around. "I've come from a place where I was completely kind of unable to walk, to being able to walk around and do everyday tasks. And, I think that was the first protocol to start with, was just to get back to normal. "So I'm back to normal in terms of everyday living. I've just got to get back to rugby protocol." Microbiologist Dr Sarah Hooper said Davies' "severe" case would have been difficult to diag

Mar 29, 2026 → Mar 29, 2026