Scottish Soccer Player Whacks Her Dislocated Knee Back Into Place, Keeps Playing

St. Mirren WFC captain Jane O’Toole whacked her dislocated kneecap back into place and kept on playing.
Scottish Soccer Player Whacks Her Dislocated Knee Back Into Place, Keeps Playing
Scottish Soccer Player Whacks Her Dislocated Knee Back Into Place, Keeps Playing /

No one would have blamed St. Mirren WFC captain Jane O’Toole if she sat on the bench for the final 40 minutes of her team’s Scottish Cup match against Inverness after dislocating her kneecap in a nasty collision. 

But O‘Toole didn’t just stay in the game—she did so after using a few open-palm strikes to put her kneecap back in place. 

It sounds gruesome and it was. 

O’Toole was clearly in excruciating pain, and yet she refused to come off the pitch even though her team was trailing 6–0.

Shockingly, a player repairing their own dislocated kneecap is not unheard of. Last summer, English rugby player Joe Westerman employed O’Toole’s same strategy of open-palm smacks to put his kneecap back in the anatomically correct position after a hard tackle.

Westerman’s coach said the player’s knee often pops out of place. Hopefully it’s not a common occurrence for O’Toole. 


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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).