Quadriplegic teenager: school rugby resumes a month after the accident

The UNSS ensures that "security" measures have been taken.

The practice of sport in schools, stopped on the eve of the Christmas holidays following a very serious accident in the Hautes-Pyrénées, will resume as a whole, announced the National Union of School Sport (UNSS) this Friday.

The decision to stop the practice and competition of school rugby just before the Christmas holidays was taken two days after a terrible accident which occurred on December 14 during a meeting between the Saint-Pierre high school club in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) and that of the establishment of Notre-Dame de Garaison in Monléon-Magnoac.

Mathias Dantin, a 17-year-old high school student, player from Saint-Pierre de Tarbes, had to be hospitalized after a violent tackle that left him quadriplegic.

Read also“No memory of having children”: the frightening confession of English pillar Joe Marler after a concussion

"Gathered at the initiative of the national management of the UNSS at the very beginning of January 2023, the national joint commissions devoted to rugby worked to strengthen regulatory and safety educational measures", explained the UNSS in a communicated.

"Additional awareness and prevention measures have been taken to guarantee the physical integrity of licensees, who benefit from insurance coverage in the event of exceptional risks for all sports practiced in sports associations and during competitions", continued the instance in its press release.

A contested decision

"All rugby practices can therefore be offered again from January 19," the UNSS finally decided.

Rugby V and XIII play had indeed already resumed at the beginning of the month, but Rugby VII and XV were still considered riskier practices.

The decision to suspend school rugby on the eve of the Christmas holidays had been criticized in particular by the Snep-FSU, the union of EPS teachers.

"An accident, however dramatic it may be, and far from us to minimize it, cannot lead to the exclusion of a sporting activity in such a rush when an investigation is probably just beginning to be carried out and the National Joint Commission (CMN ) has not yet come together,” he explained.

Mathias Dantin was still hospitalized on January 7 at the Purpan hospital in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne).

His Bagnères-de-Bigorre club (Hautes-Pyrénées) launched a Leetchi kitty to support his family and the teenager received messages of support from several rugby stars.