New Scarlets signing Alex Groves was told he had just two years to live after a routine cardiac screening revealed a deteriorated heart valve condition, before surgeons later found and successfully repaired an aneurysm.
Six years ago, during pre-season cardiac screening, the South African lock was told he had a leaking heart valve. Four years later, when tests were repeated at Sale Sharks, the condition had deteriorated and he was warned he could have only a few years left to live.
Devastating diagnosis
“It was definitely very scary,” said Groves. “I remember they found the problem in August 2023 and from there it was on and off until about November/December time. I had a test in December and then on my birthday on January 5 the following year (2024) I went in and saw my surgeon with my parents.”
“I was quite confident as a young boy and I was very fit and very healthy. I've never thought anything's wrong with me and it went from like, 'no, you might not be able to play rugby' to 'you've got two years to live.' Thank God my parents were in that meeting with me because I just completely shut off.”
“Everything that my surgeon told me from that point on I did not receive. I was on the car ride home back to Manchester because the appointment was in Liverpool and my parents were just having to relay all the information that was literally just said, because it scared the life out of me that I didn't actually retain any information after that.”
Hidden aneurysm discovered
Things were about to get even harder before they got better, as the giant lock was subsequently diagnosed with an aneurysm. “I then went on tour with Sale Sharks to play the Stormers in the European Champions Cup,” he recalls. “I was meant to be on the bench for that game and unfortunately that week my surgeon called me and said 'you can't play because they've found an aneurysm that they'd missed.'”
“That was purely down to the fact that MRI machines aren't really built for 6ft 9in, broad-shouldered people. Fortunately they found it, because one wrong hit to the chest and I would've bled out in a matter of seconds because it was on my aortic artery. I had to pull out of that game. I literally flew back to Manchester a month later. I was on the operating table for seven to eight hours. So yeah, it was terrifying.”
“But I think it honestly is more scary for the people closest to you. I just fell asleep and woke up. Thankfully it was a success. But I had my girlfriend at the time and my mum sitting in the waiting room. I mean I can't imagine how hard that is.”
Return to South Africa and Scarlets link
Groves is acutely aware of how fortunate he has been. Had he not been a professional rugby player undergoing regular cardiac screening, the outcome could have been very different. “Well I'm not familiar with what protocol they had with Prem Rugby 10 years ago, but definitely the type of surgery that they did on me wasn't a standard procedure 10 years ago,” he said.
“So I can only imagine the worst: that a player in my position 10 years ago would have had to retire or they probably wouldn't have found the problem and would've sadly passed. It's amazing how advanced things become now and I was obviously quite worried leading up to that surgery.”
“I remember speaking to my anaesthetist who was a big rugby fan and he told me that the procedure that they were doing on me was as easy as it is for me as a lock to jump in the lineout. I thought well then I'm going to be fine, and that really did put me at ease.”
The former England U20s international soon returned to his native South Africa where he spent much of his rugby playing for the Stormers in the Currie Cup. It was there that his association with the Scarlets began. With an injury crisis at lock during last season’s tour of South Africa, the Welsh club brought Groves in on an emergency loan.
He made an immediate impression, winning over the small band of Scarlets supporters who had travelled to Johannesburg. “Johannesburg is my home town so all my family turned out to watch me play and after the game I went up into the stands,” he said. “My dad saw this old fellow who was a Scarlets supporter. His name's Ant. He was like sort of giving eye contact to my dad and my dad called him over. So then Ant congratulates me on the game and he said he thought I played well and all that sort of stuff.”
Special bond with supporters
The Scarlets supporters were subsequently invited back to Groves’ local rugby club, Pirates, where the bond between player and fans grew stronger. “When I arrived there I think my parents were trying to outdrink the Welsh which was never a good idea,” he said. “Everyone was in a bit of a drunkard state but it was awesome to see. They were in the middle of Joburg late into the night singing Welsh songs. It was great to learn a bit about the culture and meet such amazing people.”
“Fortunately when I signed for Scarlets I got back in contact with Cath who is Ant's daughter. She made a promise to my mum that if I ever went over to Scarlets that she'd look after me. I got back in touch with her to help me with a few things and she was amazing. Then got the word that they were going to sponsor me. It's quite a special name that the sponsors chose. It's Sosban Pirates, obviously relating Sosban to Llanelli and Pirates to my home club and merging the two together. So it's quite special really and quite unique I feel.”
Groves spent his first month in west Wales living above the Drovers pub in Llanelli. “When I arrived Cath actually organized this for me,” he said. “She found an Airbnb above a pub called The Drovers in town and it's owned by Julie and Peter who are lovely people. They took me in. The first day I arrived there they gave me a pint of Guinness and gave me a lay of the land. It was a good test of discipline really. I'd like to say that I but I did fail a few times. It was good fun and got a bit loud on the weekends. But I've moved across to Swansea city center now.”
The 6ft 9in second-row has been brought in to add some much-needed size and physicality to the Scarlets’ engine room. Despite last weekend’s home defeat by Cardiff, Groves is confident he can make a significant impact at the Scarlets as he prepares to make his first start against the Dragons.
“I've always been a very good set piece lock, I feel,” he said. “That's something I pride myself upon so guaranteeing scrum and lineouts to give the backs platform to attack from. And then around general play along with my physicality and bringing the dominance on attack and defence. I know not everyone's available yet, but I'm sure that when we do have a full healthy squad to choose from, we will provide the results that are expected of us.”
“I've always been a firm believer of iron sharpens iron, so the more competitive that we can be here at training behind closed doors when no one's looking putting in the real hard graft that'll grant us the reward on the weekend.”
