Former Hull FC prop forward Mark O’Meley is reportedly in recovery after going ‘into cardiac arrest’ during an operation. That’s according to O’Meley’s former Canterbury Bulldogs teammate Willie Mason, who revealed the news while speaking on the Levels podcast with Justin Horo.
Mason claims the former Australia international, who has spent time working behind the scenes at NRL outfit Newcastle Knights since his retirement from playing in 2014, was having an operation on his back when he went into cardiac arrest. It is also said that doctors had to resuscitate the 43-year-old.
Mason was relieved to report that O’Meley is doing ‘OK’, though, as he recovers from the incident.
“Big Ogre [O’Meley] just called me,” Mason said on the podcast. “Can I say something about Ogre? Shout out to Ogre, he had an operation on his back and he went into cardiac arrest.
“I’m only saying this as Sandy [O’Meley’s partner] put it on Facebook. He’s OK. But shout out to Big Ogre and the family. I love you mate. And yeah it was scary when he wrote the message when he found out yesterday.
“He was on the bed and they had to resuscitate him. Scary bro. At least he’s alright. Big man, take care of yourself mate.”
O’Meley had spells with North Sydney Bears and Northern Eagles before joining the Bulldogs in 2002. He made 110 appearances for the club and won a NRL Grand Final back in 2004.
He went on to join Sydney Roosters in 2008 before making the move to Hull FC in 2010. He made 90 appearances for the Black and Whites and scored 13 tries in the four seasons he spent at the club before returning to Australia to spend a year with the Wyong Roos. O’Meley has since spoken regularly about his time at Hull and his love for both the city and the club.Â
He has 15 caps for Australia, while he also represented New South Wales on 10 occasions.
