Yahoo Sports Being told I could have died 'terrifying' - Carson
For Ben Carson, the opportunity to pull on the white jersey of Ulster is something that he cherishes all the more after suffering a serious injury which he feared at the time could end his prospect of playing high-level rugby.
The centre was just 19 years old when he sustained a punctured spleen two minutes into Ulster A's game against Connacht in September 2021.
Three years on from that significant setback, Carson has established himself as an important member of head coach Richie Murphy's Ulster squad and has marked his emergence into the senior ranks by scoring three tries for the province already this season to earn a three-year contract extension.
He admits that the extent of his spleen injury did lead him briefly to question his future in the sport.
"Injuries are part of the game, but I did go through a pretty tough time. With the spleen, the doctors told me there was a chance I could have died and stuff like that and that's kind of terrifying," explained Carson.
"There were thoughts going through my head during those tough times like 'do you really want to play this again, it's been really tough' and you wonder do you ever want to go through that again but then you remember the reason you play - you love it. I've always wanted to be a rugby player, so why stop?
"I got better, got through injuries and it's probably made me more resilient and made me better for it."
Former Ulster development player Carson was part of Murphy's squad which won the Under-20 Six Nations Grand Slam in 2022 and after subsequently making his United Rugby Championship debut against Connacht, he was handed his first senior start for Ulster against the Bulls in October, scoring a second-half try.
He went on to cross the whitewash twice in the URC defeat by Leinster in late November and has now made seven appearances in total for the Irish province.
"This time last year, I wasn't playing much for Ulster but this year a few injuries, James Hume being out and Stuart McCloskey having a few niggles, gave me the opportunity to put my best foot forward and perform," said the 22-year-old.
"Richie and I have a pretty good relationship. He coached me at under-20s, we won the grand slam and he was happy enough with how I went there so when he came in here he was telling me from the start he was going to give me those opportunities I hadn't really been getting and when he did I was delighted."
Ulster go into Saturday's URC encounter against Connacht at the Sportsground on a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions, the latest an agonising last-gasp 22-19 reverse at home to Munster in Belfast before Christmas.
Carson says the Ulster squad can take confidence however from a hard-fought 32-27 victory over Pete Wilkins's side at Kingspan Stadium in October.
"The games haven't been going as well as we would have liked but we have still half a season to go," reflected Carson.
"We got the win over them [Connacht] earlier in the season, it was a good game, but they'll be revved up ready to go.
"They'll have watched us against Munster and probably thought 'this is a good opportunity to put a number on these boys', but we're all guns blazing ready to get the win."
