Fergus is gutted - almost literally

ANENDRA SINGH
Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. Tell that to soccer player Fergus Neil. For the record the 14-year-old couldn't muster a feeble smile when SportToday tracked him down at the Hawke's Bay Show in Hastings yesterday.
The versatile wing's body let him down when he least expected it in the last school holidays and he's not likely to forget that in a hurry.
Booked to fly to Sydney as part of the New Zealand Under-14 squad member on September 25, the Napier Boys' High School pupil instead found himself at Starship Hospital in Auckland - out went his appendix and with it his eight-match trip.
It's not that the Napier Boys' High School pupil, like many teenagers, tortures his brains with countless hours of texting or gawking at television and computer screens. Neither does he punish his body with junk food and fizzy drinks.
"Oh, he was training with older people, watching his diet and making sure he didn't get hurt and all that. He was looking forward to going," said his mother, Helen, a radiologist at the Hawke's Bay Hospital in Hastings.
A week before the flight, the Hawke's Bay United Academy player sprained his right foot. Thankfully, that came right. A day before he left he played for his Bay under-14 side against the Central Federation women's soccer team during a friendly warm-up at the NBHS grounds and nodded in a goal.
"On Monday (September 25) he was all packed up to go but complained to me that his tummy was sore," said Helen, who with husband James, a painter, suspected he might have had a 24-hour tummy bug or simply a case of nerves.
Nevertheless, Neil flew out of Napier with coach Leon Birnie.
Things went from bad to worse for Neil at Auckland International Airport about 1pm when he started vomiting. "I threw up once and made a mess at the airport and they didn't like it, so they called the physio in," said Neil.
He ended up outside the airport terminal lounge but he he "threw up 15 to 20 times over an hour", texting in between to his mother in Hastings an hour before the flight. Helen said: "Sue Batty (trip organiser in Auckland) rang to say Fergus had been all checked in but they wouldn't let him (get) on the plane. So about 4.30pm I flew up to see him."
Fortunately, Helen's sister, Gael Donald, a general practitioner from Grey Lynn, diagnosed his condition as appendicitis. "Even as they were about to anaesthetise Fergus before surgery, he was still asking if he could go to Australia once they had removed his appendix," Helen said with a laugh.
Neil has been to Australia three times before as a holidaymaker and a bout of vomiting once - attributed to a tummy bug - while in Cairns.
"I was gutted that I didn't go," said Neil of the Sydney trip, upset that he had missed out on the experience as his teammates netted 30 goals and conceded five in their six-win, two-loss tour.
However, he exchanged texts with squad mate Steven Kibby, of Taranaki, who kept him up to date with match results once he flew back to Napier after two nights with his aunt in Auckland.
Neil thanked Soccer Hawke's Bay, Stephen Hill Motors and his parents for helping raise funds for his aborted trip. He is hoping that his national squad will tour Vanuatu next year and that also he will be a candidate for the 2009 under-17 youth World Cup.
But there's one thing he's absolutely certain about - appendicitis will not ground him again.