Matthew Dawson: The Australian athlete who amputated a finger to be at the Paris Olympics

A big decision to make

Would you trade a limb for a shot at Olympic glory? It’s an often-asked hypothetical, but in the case of Australian field hockey star Matthew Dawson, it was a real-life decision.

Serious injury

The Kookaburras defender suffered a nasty finger injury after being struck by a hockey stick in an inter-squad match during the team’s Paris warm-ups in Perth two weeks ago.

Would have ruled him out

So severe was the injury, he would have had to undergo reconstructive surgery that would almost certainly rule him out for the Olympics – his third and potentially final appearance at the Games. There was also a good chance he wouldn’t have full function in the finger again.

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Fit in 10 days

Doctors advised him that the best option would be to amputate the top half of his finger and be fit to play again in 10 days, ABC News Australia reported.

"Don't do anything rash"

Despite being warned by his wife not to do anything "rash", Dawson decided to go for the surgery then and there.

"I had to make the decision, in a pretty short period of time"

"With all the information I had to make the decision, in a pretty short period of time, I still decided to take it and I can still have a pretty good functioning life with just a little less finger to worry about," he told Seven News in Australia.

His last dance

Dawson said the fact he was reaching the end of his international career played a part in his decision.

Doing whatever he could to make it

"I'm definitely closer to the end of my career than the start and, who knows, this could be my last [Olympics], and if I felt that I could still perform at my best, then that's what I was going to do," he said.

"I am very fortunate that I had the choice to decide"

"If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that's what I would do. "I am very fortunate that I had the choice to decide what I did and am very, very fortunate to be here," he told Seven News.

Big opening game

Dawson, who helped his team claim a silver medal at Tokyo 2020, will indeed compete in Paris this weekend, with Australia to open their campaign against Rio 2016 champions Argentina in their opening match on July 27.

Going for gold!

"Fingers crossed we get the gold in the end, it's not a really big price to pay then," Dawson joked.

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