Ben Stokes, the England all-rounder, has described how a little tablet thwarted his chances of playing in the Ashes. He talked of the battle he went through when the tablet got stuck in his windpipe. He was alone in a hotel room.
Stokes declared his desire to play in the Ashes after missing the home tour against India and the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder took a break from cricket to focus on his mental health and recover from a finger injury. Stokes was able to extract the tablet after much effort.
“It was actually down to a simple tablet that went down the wrong way, and got stuck in my windpipe causing me to choke horribly before the glands in my face went into overdrive to flush it out. Until it actually came out, I thought this might be the end. We’ve all had those moments when something gets stuck in the throat. And usually someone can help you out.” Stokes wrote
“But I was on my own in my room and I couldn’t breathe as it became lodged and started to dissolve. It felt like my mouth was on fire. The team doctor came to see me straight away and she explained what had happened with the body reacting the way it did. I’m glad it did, even though I was a mess.” Stokes continued
The 30-year-old last represented England in July, when he captained the second-string side to a 3-0 series win over Pakistan.
Ben Stokes’ fate had more surprises in store for him after his struggles with the iPad. Stokes was whacked in the forearm by coach Jonathan Trott during practice, leading him to assume it was a fracture. The chance of a fracture was ruled out after a physical examination by the physiotherapists.
Jonathan Trott
“After all the drama of the morning, I was happy to get a bit of training in later on, but then came another scary moment as I got hit on the forearm by a ball from our batting coach Jonathan Trott. I was in agony, and I couldn’t lift it thereafter. I thought it was broken” Stokes wrote
Stokes was fortunate in that the discomfort had subsided by the time he returned to the changing room. The physiotherapists confirmed that there had not been a fracture.
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