In One Ear Off With The Other

 
Aussies love tales of sports stars overcoming debilitating injuries to achieve glory.
Sam Burgess was hailed as a hero after playing on in 2014’s NRL grand final despite a broken cheek and eye socket. Berto DiPierdomenico played with a punctured lung and broken ribs in the 1989 VFL grand final. And Shannon “Boomer” Johnson famously had his penis torn off by a pack of rabid monkeys moments before scoring the winning goal in the 2009 A-League final.
Now a new name is set to be read aloud in sport’s hall of fame for mutilated men – although you might want to speak up a bit as the man in question had his ear torn off.
Ice hockey player Kevin Klein, a defenseman for the New York Rangers, took a stick to the ear during his team’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and was horrified to see a chunk of flesh sliced clean off.
Check out the clip here.

As blood gushed down the side of his head and onto his jersey, the 29-year-old was, unsurprisingly, forced off the ice – but not for long.
After having 13 stitches to put the ear back together, and a fair dose of painkillers, Klein was reintroduced to the game. He wasn’t done there either. The earless ’ero went on to score the winning goal in an extraordinary 4-3 victory, and even gave a post-match interview to TV reporters with blood still dripping from the side of his head. We can only assume he responded to most of the questions he was asked with the word “what?”
“I don’t know if anyone saw his ear there, but he lost a piece of it and they sewed it back,” coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Post. “Say what you want about hockey players, but they’re tough sons of bitches.