Carl Rimmer quits professional rugby following stroke
Carl Rimmer (left) has been with Exeter Chiefs since 2012
©PA
Exeter Chiefs prop Carl Rimmer has announced his decision to quit professional rugby after he suffered a stroke while training in January.
The 32-year-old joined Exeter Chiefs from Cornish Pirates in 2012 and has featured in over 100 games for the club.
Rimmer suffered a stroke two days after the Premiership game against Newcastle Falcons and was admitted to the hospital. After a few months on the sidelines, he was advised by the specialist to retire from the game.
"It was all a bit weird." said Rimmer, "Nobody knew what had happened, I didn’t really know, I was fully conscious, and by the time I got to hospital and someone diagnosed it and told me what was wrong, the best part of me thought ‘it can’t be, it is impossible, I am 30 years old, there is no way that’s happened’, and it turns out it was related to trauma and not to anything else."
“The club were brilliant with me and let me have some good time off to make sure everything healed as it should. Apart from the rugby side of things, I have been pretty much fine since February, so that has been brilliant.
“I was under the impression from medical guidance that there was a chance that I could return to playing, but at the same time the percentage was only 50-50, but unfortunately, three months later, when they rescanned everything, the injury itself had not healed properly, which just meant the risks of returning to play a contact sport were too great, and I was advised medically to retire, which wasn’t great news to hear at the time.”
During his time with Coventry, Rimmer also suffered a serious neck injury before he moved to Cornish Pirates and was also part of the 2016/17 Aviva Premiership title-winning Exeter side.
