On November 3, 2019, Sam Ward’s life changed overnight.
In an Olympic qualifier against Malaysia, the English forward suffered a horrific injury, one of the worst possible injuries to suffer on a hockey turf. His teammate struck the ball towards goal but instead struck Ward flush in the face, leaving him with seven facial fractures and a torn retina. The injury caused near blindness to his left eye, threatening to bring a premature end to his professional career.
But seven years on from that moment, Ward feels ‘better than ever’. With a protective face mask on, the 35-year-old is continuing to sound the boards.
“I feel like I can be braver now,” the three-time Olympian tells Sportstar, after his opening goal set England on course for an 8-2 win over Wales in the World Cup. “I get to wear a mask. I’m protected and I love it. The fear is what keeps me coming.”
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According to Ward, he has ‘20-25%’ vision in his eye, adding, “I’ve lost all full central vision and ability to see with it. I have a bit of peripheral only.” Yet, in a split-second decision-making top level sport, has still managed to train himself to become an elite marksman.
At one point, Ward did think it was the end of the road.
“It took a lot of soul searching to come back,” he says. “I was pretty comfortable with my career at that point. I’d played 130-140 times at that point. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I’d done pretty well. But I’m really glad I came back now.”
Not wanting to go back to his old job as a car salesman, Ward took his first steps towards finding his way back into hockey. The first step back in rehabilitation was to get over the mental trauma and sleepless nights of reliving the injury, which prompted him to watch the injury video over 200 times.
It took him just two months from the surgery, which required facial reconstruction, to take to training on a hockey pitch again. A month later, he made his domestic comeback, playing for his club Old Georgians.
Since his return, he has scored 82 international goals, nearly matching his career tally at a slightly better rate pre-injury. He is also buoyed by this current crop of England players, who are firing on all cylinders in the last 10 months.
“I get to wear a mask. I’m protected and I love it. The fear is what keeps me coming.”
| Photo Credit:
Aashin Prasad
“I get to wear a mask. I’m protected and I love it. The fear is what keeps me coming.”
| Photo Credit:
Aashin Prasad
England is unbeaten in all competitions this year, finishing second in the Pro League standings. The form has endured at the World Cup in Amstelveen, where England finished top of its pool with three wins while being top-scorers with 16 goals.
“I’ve never played in a team quite like this at the moment. There’s a spirit that is pretty impressive. Every man is in it for each other and there are no egos,” he says of this England squad.
And Ward isn’t taking his place for granted, motivated to push himself to maintain his world class standards as England chase World Cup glory.
“It’s all part of the journey in sport. You’ve got to work hard. Nobody gets given anything. I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t believe in our team at the moment. That’s what spurs me on,” he says.
Surgery isn’t on the cards at this point for him yet Ward feels content in not wanting to restore what he lost. “It’s not worth it. Maybe in the future, a retina transplant may be an option,” he says. “I’ve basically sliced my retina in half and that’s what’s happened. It will be forever like that. It doesn’t repair. But I’m happy, I live a good life. Why would I risk it?”
Published on Aug 20, 2026
