Former Scottish international returns to rugby 5 years after almost being paralysed

For the love of the game.

Five years ago, Scottish winger Thom Evans was forced to retire from professional rugby after suffering a serious neck injury in a Six Nations match against Wales. The former Glasgow Warriors player had to undergo two surgeries in an attempt to realign his spine, with the surgeon at the time saying that his spine was so out of place that he was a millimetre away from suffering permanent paralysis or even death. After four months of rehabilitation, Evans was forced to retire from the sport at just 24. That was in 2010, but now Evans has announced his return to rugby ahead of representing Scotland at the Dubai Sevens tournament next week. "I'm honoured to be able to get the opportunity to play, and this tournament is to see how I hold up being back on the pitch," he told The Daily Mail. "I have no ambitions or anything other than just to play in this tournament in Dubai and see how my body holds up. "The idea just now is to play sevens. The body feels really good. I will see how it is. I have been working really hard with Margot [Wells, his sprinting coach] and strengthening everything up."