{"id":374889,"date":"2024-03-11T03:12:57","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T04:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=374889"},"modified":"2024-03-11T07:03:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T07:03:05","slug":"seven-screws-in-my-head-aussie-reveals-grisly-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=374889","title":{"rendered":"'Seven screws in my head': Aussie reveals grisly surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian surfing<\/a> champion Tyler Wright<\/a> has revealed she had seven screws inserted in her head due to a condition that left her "under-oxygenated" and "semi-suffocating".<\/p>\n

And although the operation has had a hugely positive impact on her life, \ufeffthe Paris<\/a>-bound 29-year-old is still struggling with the issue.<\/p>\n

Wright will join Australian young gun Molly Picklum in\ufeff the Tahitian village of Teahupo'o for the Olympic<\/a> surfing competition.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie Olympic rowing champs' left-field answer to shock defeat\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bennett 'blunder' leaves major cloud over Dolphins<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> F1 driver stripped of victory for 'unfortunate' act<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The NSW south coast product opened up about her condition on the World Surf League broadcast during Portugal's Rip Curl Pro on Wednesday (AEDT).<\/p>\n

"I've had a fair few doctors and specialists tell me they don't know how I do what I do," Wright said.<\/p>\n

"I shouldn't be able to do what I do, according to my brain scans and my anatomy. It's really unusual that I am a professional surfer [with the condition].<\/p>\n

"Through one of the specialists we ended up finding that most of the time I'm under-oxygenated, and I'm semi-suffocating all the time through my nose, and my airways are really small.<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/p>\n

"So through the off-season I got a maxillary palatal expander [a device that widens the mouth] in. Essentially I've got seven screws in my head, between nine and 17 millimetres [in length], and in the off-season I expanded it. Essentially it popped the bone and I got seven millimetres [of extra airway space] through that."<\/p>\n

The operation has proven "life-changing" and she's the "sanest" she's ever felt, Wright said.<\/p>\n

But the Culburra Beach product said the operation had caused "pressure points" on other parts of her brain, making the condition "a little tricky navigating" this season.<\/p>\n

"I kind of got a concussion before the season started and every time I tap it, it wigs me out a bit," Wright said.<\/p>\n

"I've got to train a new system. Thirteen years in it's perplexing and does my head in a little bit. But I'm working it through, and I've got great support and great doctors. It's been really successful and it's changing my life, but it's also a process and that's only step one and a half of a multi-step process."<\/p>\n

Wright is set for a quarter-final showdown with Hawaii's Gabriela Bryan\ufeff in Portugal.<\/p>\n

Bryan advanced by securing a shock victory over Picklum in the round of 16.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Wright, Picklum, Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing will represent Australia in surfing at Paris 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian surfing champion Tyler Wright has revealed she had seven screws inserted in her head due to a condition that left her "under-oxygenated" and "semi-suffocating". […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=374889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":374892,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374889\/revisions\/374892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/374891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=374889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=374889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=374889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}