David Lyons has undergone surgery in an attempt to be fit for the Rugby World Cup.
Australian No.8 goes under the knife to speed up recovery
David Lyons has undergone surgery in an attempt to be fit in time for the Rugby World Cup starting in September.
The Australian forward was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in July, days before the Bledisloe Cup decider against New Zealand.
Standard treatment for DVT is simply rest, recuperation and medicine, but with this method full recovery takes around six months. However, with only six weeks to go until the start of the World Cup, Lyons resorted to surgery usually reserved for patients with heart conditions.
The procedure involved having a catheter inserted at the top of his groin to pump fluid into his arteries in an attempt to break down the clot in his calf, and it seems it has been a success.
He told the Sydney Daily Telegraph: "So far so good, I'm in a lot better position than I was.
Idea
"This time last week I was a bit touch and go whether I would be right or not.
"We'll have a better idea how things are in the next two weeks. It was disappointing to miss the Bledisloe game, but hopefully I can get back on the park for the World Cup.
"They never really do this on legs, they normally only do it on heart patients, no one's ever really done it on the calf before.
"They usually just leave it because it heals itself. But that can take up to six months. I was a little bit sore afterwards but today I am feeling a lot better."
Lyons is hopeful that he will be joining the Wallabies in Sydney this week for their World Cup training camp.
