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State of Origin 2015: Maroons debutant Josh McGuire survived a horrific car accident as a child[/h]
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...-a-child/story-fnp0lyn6-1227360707534?login=1
McGuire’s father, retired war veteran Adam, on Tuesday night recalled the horrific road accident which could have easily killed his son as a four-year-old.
Broncos NRL star McGuire celebrated the high-point of his rugby league career on Tuesday when he was named to make his Queensland debut in Origin I next Wednesday night.
The 25-year-old will become the 180th player to represent the Maroons, but well before he cultivated an Origin dream, McGuire was involved in a shocking motor accident.
McGuire has only faint memories of the moment he went flying out of his child-seat and plunged headfirst into his family car’s windscreen.
His mother, Karlene, sat terrified in the passenger seat, pregnant at the time with McGuire’s younger brother.
“I honestly thought he was gone,” said McGuire Sr, who served 28 years in the Australian Army, retiring after a tour of Afghanistan in 2012.
“We were driving and a car turned across right in front of us, we ploughed into it and the force was so bad Josh came out of his seat and smashed into the windscreen.
“It was horrible. Josh was just a kid, a four-year-old stuck there in the windscreen.
“We feared the worst. There was nothing from him. No sounds, no crying. He spent the night in hospital but thankfully he survived.”
For the next two years, debris from the collision remained embedded in McGuire’s head.
“For a long time we were picking glass out of Josh’s head,” McGuire Sr recalls.
“I remember there would be days where Josh would brush his hair and a piece of glass would just come out of his skin.
“But he never complained ... Josh is as tough as nails.”
The Maroons star doesn’t remember much of his earliest years, but such was the impact of the accident, it lingers in his mind.
“I still remember the moment I went flying into the windscreen,” he said.
“It was pretty traumatic, I got messed up pretty bad with the accident.
“Maybe it explains why I’m missing a few brain cells. It was a long process to get through it, but eventually I came good.”
His Origin career now born, McGuire vowed not to let Queensland down when the 105kg prop runs onto Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.
“I’m ecstatic, it’s a dream come true,” said McGuire, who has played 122 NRL games for the Broncos since his debut in 2009.
“I had a goal that I wanted to make the team this year and to finally get there, I just want to do the selectors and the state of Queensland proud.”
