Basketball player's eyeball pops out during game

Auckland: A basketball player playing in the Australian National Basketball League suffered a freak injury when his eyeball popped out during a game.

Akil Mitchell, who plays for the New Zealand Breakers, says he "freaked out" at the gruesome injury but was relieved that his sight was apparently unaffected. "I could still see out of the eye even though it was kind of on the side of my face... it was a weird sensation," forward Akil Mitchell said.

Mitchell was on the attack in a game against the Cairns Taipans when he caught an accidental finger in the eye from an opposition player. The American import fell to the floor squirming in pain and holding his hands to his left eye as shocked teammates tried to help.

(Video courtesy: Viral Vids)

"With the palm of my hand I felt my eyeball on the side of my face, which was when I knew this was worse than I (first) thought it was," he told Radio Sport.

The 24-year-old believed he would lose sight in the eye and his career was over. But he added that while the injury was painful, the worst part was not being able to blink, making his fully functioning eyeball red and irritated.

"Once I got in the ambulance they gave me a little pain medicine and some saline drops in my eye and I felt it slide back into place, which is also a really strange feeling. It felt so good to be able to blink again, which is insane."

Mitchell was even able to joke about the injury, tweeting a cartoon of a pair of eyeballs after being discharged from hospital, along with the words "...too soon?"

The man from North Carolina said he was on track for a full recovery and planned to wear goggles when he resumed playing.

"I'm blessed and lucky that it's healed the way it has already... the doctor said I should be able to get back on the court pretty soon," he said.