BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
ROSS Laidlaw has spoken of his thrill at sealing a move to Hibs – just months after spending a week in hospital with a lacerated kidney.
The 23-year-old sustained the freak injury in December in a training-ground collision with Raith Rovers team-mate Ross Callachan.
Initials fears of a cracked rib turned into an even more serious problem once he was seen by doctors, who had to operate to glue his kidney together.
The 6’5” keeper then spent time in a high dependency unit before having to stay at home for eight weeks recovering.
But from that low, the imposing goalie is now on a massive high after penning a 12-month deal with the Scottish Cup winners.
Laidlaw, who was at Raith for six years, said: “I got an elbow in my stomach in training and I ended up going to hospital, which kept me out until the end of the season.
“It was a serious injury and the problem was there wasn’t many specialists dealing with it in Scotland, so it took a while to find the right person to go to.
“It took a long time to get it sorted but I’m glad I’m back now and I feel fit.
“They basically had to glue my kidney back together. It was serious. I was in the high-dependency unit in Glasgow for a few days and in hospital for a week.
Freak injury
“I then spent eight weeks at home when I didn’t go into the club because of the severity of the injury.
“After that I was in doing light training but I never trained fully last season after the injury.”
It was another setback for the goalie, whose chances at Raith were stunted by injuries and the form of experienced pair David McGurn and Kevin Cuthbert.
He added: “It was just a freak injury. It was bizarre, the doctors in the hospital said they had never seen anything like it.
“It happened with the kind of thing that happens 100 times in training. I got a bump in my side and I felt like I was winded.
“I went down with it and then went to hospital thinking I had cracked a rib, and then then realised it was actually my kidney I had torn.
“A week after the season finished I got the all-clear to say I was fine to go back.
“I had an offer from Raith but when I knew Hibs were wanting me in I jumped at the chance.”
