OTLEY Rugby Club has praised a doctor whose quick actions saved the life of one of its players.

Twenty-one-year-old Ben Fairclough was knocked unconscious while playing for Otley in an away game against Stourbridge Rugby Club last Saturday, October 18.

The player had swallowed his tongue in the accident, but Tony Carter, a team doctor for the West Midlands club, sprang into action – aided by two physiotherapists – and cleared his airwaves before an ambulance arrived.

Mr Fairclough, who was being watched in the game by his father, was taken to Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, for treatment and released the following evening.

Otley Rugby Club’s director of rugby, James Tiffany, said: “I want to thank the medics from Stourbridge, because they did a fabulous job.

“It just shows the importance of having a doctor on hand.”

Andy Verlander, Stourbridge’s manager, Andy Verlander, added: “If we didn’t have a doctor present we would have lost that lad. It was Tony who went in there and took control before the ambulance arrived.

“He did what was needed.”

The incident happened just before half time when Mr Fairclough was making a tackle and took a blow to the head from an opposing player’s knee, then collapsed.

The match was delayed for half an hour while he received treatment before resuming, with Otley going on to win 37-23.