![]() | |||||||||||||
Birth name | Roger Addison | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 1945 | ||||||||||||
Place of birth | Pontypool, Wales | ||||||||||||
Date of death | March 2010 (aged 65) | ||||||||||||
Place of death | Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
|
Roger Addison was a Welsh rugby union player. A prop forward, he represented Wales at youth level and played club rugby for Pontypool RFC. He suffered a serious neck injury during a match in 1966 that left him paralysed. He lived in hospital for more than 40 years after the incident.
Addison grew up in Trevethin, a suburb of Pontypool. [1] He had five sisters and one brother. [2] His father, James, was also a rugby player and played for Pontypool RFC and Newport RFC. Addison attended Twmpath Secondary School. [3]
Addison began his career with Pontypool RFC as a prop and represented Wales at youth level in a 9–6 victory against France in March 1964. [3] [4] He made his senior debut for Pontypool in the same month, as his side defeated Oxford 6–0. [3] In a match against Rugby Lions at William Webb Ellis Road on 5 November 1966 Addison, aged 21, broke his neck in a scrum collapse 15 minutes into the game and was paralysed from the neck down. As a result of the injury, Addison swallowed a piece of chewing gum that became stuck in his throat. Club doctor John O'Hanlon performed an emergency tracheotomy on Addison on the pitch. [5]
At the time of his injury, Addison had made 79 appearances for Pontypool and scored seven tries. [3]
After the incident, Addison was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he was diagnosed with quadriplegia as a result of his injuries. [4] Doctors initially feared that he would only survive for three weeks but he lived in hospital for the following 44 years of his life during which representatives of Pontypool RFC visited him regularly. Addison died in March 2010 aged 65. [3] [4] He spent several years at Stoke Mandeville before he was moved to Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff in order to be closer to his family. [1] [2] He was transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in 2005 where he died five years later at the age of 65. [2]
Dragons RFC are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC.
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since.
Gethin Jenkins is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop for Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues and Toulon. At international level, he won 129 caps for Wales. On his 105th appearance in 2014, he became Wales' most-capped player, overtaking the record held by Stephen Jones; having earned his final cap in November 2016, his record was surpassed by Alun Wyn Jones in September 2019. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams. He also won five caps for the British & Irish Lions on three tours in 2005, 2009 and 2013. He is the sixth most-capped player in rugby union history and the most-capped front-row forward.
Graham Price MBE is a former Welsh rugby union player, who was a member of the famous Pontypool RFC front row known as the "Viet Gwent". He won 41 caps for Wales, and a record 12 for the British and Irish Lions as a prop forward.
Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Premiership. Since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontypool RFC is now a feeder club to the Dragons regional team. Pontypool play their home matches at Pontypool Park. Their traditional home kit is a red, white and black-hooped shirt and socks with white shorts, although they did gradually shift to wearing black shorts post-2003.
Matthew "Hambo" Hampson (born 29 November 1984 is an English former rugby union prop who became paralysed from the neck down, after a scrummaging accident when practising with England under-21 squad in March 2005. His condition requires permanent use of a ventilator to breathe.
Iestyn Thomas is a former Wales international rugby union player. In April 2012, he retired from rugby due to injury.
David Joseph Bishop, also known by the nickname of "Bish", is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and then rugby league footballer.
Jamie Corsi is a professional rugby union player. He is a former pupil of Bassaleg School, Newport. He was born in Cardiff.
Garndiffaith Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Garndiffaith in South Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Stephen Thomas "Staff" Jones, is a former Wales rugby union international from Ynysybwl. A Loosehead prop forward product of Ynysybwl RFC, he briefly played for Pontypridd RFC before making 408 appearances for Pontypool RFC in their glory years in the 1980s, often in partnership with Steve Jones and Graham Price to form another formidable front row partnership coached by Ray Prosser.
Ben Flower is a Welsh professional former rugby league footballer who last played as a prop for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Super League, and has played for Wales at international level.
Thomas Raymond Prosser was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Pontypool and was capped 22 times for Wales. Prosser also represented the British Lions in their 1959 tour of Australia and New Zealand, and played invitational rugby for the Barbarians. He is often remembered more for his coaching of an extremely successful Pontypool side during the 1970s and 1980s.
Samson Lee is a former Wales international rugby union player. Lee played for the Scarlets, as well as local teams Llanelli and Ammanford. His position is prop forward. Lee has represented Wales, making his debut against Argentina in November 2013.
William Stuart Prosser was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Pontypool RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, and at club level for Halifax, as a stand-off.
Dan Watchurst is a former Welsh rugby union player for Newport RFC and the Newport Gwent Dragons. He captained the Wales under-20 national team.
George Oliver was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Talywain RFC, Pill Harriers RFC and Pontypool RFC, as a lock, i.e. number 4 or 5, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales and Monmouthshire, and at club level for Hull F.C. and Pontypridd, as a prop, or hooker, i.e. number 8 or 10, or 9, during the era of contested scrums.
Matthew Silva is a Welsh rugby union coach, who is the current coach of RGC 1404. He is a former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer, who played from the 1980s to the 2000s. In rugby union (RU), he played as a number eight, fly-half, centre, wing and fullback. In rugby league (RL), he played as a fullback, i.e. number 1.
Alex Jeffries is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop. He retired from rugby due to a neck injury in April 2023.
Leon Michael Brown is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays for the Dragons regional team as a prop forward having previously played for Cross Keys RFC.