Junior Canberra Raiders star Jacob Iosefa has been moved out of the intensive care unit at The Canberra Hospital as he begins a long road to recovery after a car accident last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Raiders confirmed Iosefa had come out of an induced coma, but said he was now facing an indefinite period in hospital.
The teenager fractured his neck and had bleeding on the brain after being involved in an accident while driving from Wagga to Canberra.
A GoFundMe page set up to support Iosefa and his family has already raised almost $20,000 in less than a week.
In other news
"In some good news for Jacob and his family, he has regained consciousness and has been released from the Intensive Care Unit," the Raiders said.
"He continues to undergo observation at Canberra Hospital and will remain there for an indefinite period.
"The Raiders and Jacob's family would like to thank everyone for their continued support and make a special mention to the wonderful staff at Ronald McDonald House Canberra for their ongoing support for Jacob's family."
Iosefa moved from Wagga to Canberra to pursue his rugby league ambitions, playing for the Raiders and attending Erindale College.
His efforts were rewarded with a two-year deal from the Raiders after he impressed in the SG Ball under-19s competition this year.
Erindale College and the Raiders' SG Ball coach Ash Barnes said the accident rocked the junior Raiders community.
"It's a difficult period but his close mates have banded together and are supporting each other," Barnes said last week.
"He's in his second year at Erindale and he's a committed young man. He wanted to move to Canberra and chase his football, so he moved over here on his own and made that sacrifice of being away from family.
"He didn't have anything when he moved across here but he chased it and showed a great deal of commitment.
"The amount of improvement he's had over the last two seasons ... he got himself a contract and he was so pleased with that. He didn't have anything guaranteed when he got here, but he put his head down and worked really hard for it."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters