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mike tindall nose© Photo: Getty Images

Mike Tindall's life-changing rugby injuries that still impact him today

Zara Tindall's husband went through the wars while playing rugby

Melanie Macleod
Wellness Editor
January 6, 2023
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As a rugby player, Mike Tindall sustained a great deal of horrific injuries, including broken ribs and a punctured lung.

It was a less life-threatening injury that changed Mike's life forever, though. During his career, the 44-year-old broke his nose a staggering eight times, and this is the injury that still impacts him today.

WATCH: Zara And Mike Tindall's Love Story - from where they met to his proposal

The eight breakages mean Zara Tindall's husband is unable to smell properly, a fact he revealed during I'm A Celebrity last year.

READ: Zara and Mike Tindall's daily routines differ in this big way

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The former rugby player has famously broken his nose eight times and as a result, claimed he can't smell properly.

When taking part in a disgusting drinking challenge in the jungle, Mike joked with hosts Ant and Dec: "Fortunately I can't smell anything in this nose anyway so it doesn't matter anyway does it?"

Mike Tindall playing rugby joyously© Photo: Getty Images

Mike Tindall's rugby career has had a lasting impact on him

His loss of smell helped Mike's chances in the jungle, but is likely a pain in real life!

READ: Zara Tindall's new hobby Mike Tindall seriously approves of

Though his nose breaks were undoubtedly painful, another rugby scrape saw the royal end up in hospital for three days, when his opponent's boot hit his diaphragm and sternum, while the studs caught his liver.

Mike Tindall laughing on the rugby pitch© Photo: Getty Images

Mike had a successful rugby career

"At first, I thought I'd just done my ribs, albeit badly. My immediate thought was that at least a couple had been broken. But what really worried me was the fact that I was struggling desperately to breathe," Mike recalled when talking to The Daily Star.

"At the time I didn't gauge how serious a condition I was in," he said. "It turns out I had a big tear in my liver. It was more than an inch wide and about an inch deep.

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The biggest concern was my internal bleeding. I lost two pints of blood into my membrane and if it had leaked out much more and floated around in my stomach then I would have been in big trouble."

Mike Tindall and Zara dressed in smart attire© Photo: Getty Images

Zara Tindall supported Mike through his injuries

Mike eventually made a full recovery after several weeks, during which he was supported his then-girlfriend Zara.

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