Sam Ward: From horror eye injury to England’s biggest goalscoring threat at the Hockey World Cup

England had been behind twice in the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medal match against South Africa when Sam Ward, sporting a black protective mask, put them ahead for the first time in the game from a penalty corner. His team would be pegged back once more as the scores were levelled at 3-3 before a second-half assault saw them run out 6-3 winners to secure a place on the podium.

It was a sweet victory that followed a narrow 3-2 loss against eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals of the tournament.

But for Ward, who just three years earlier had suffered a horrific in-game injury in an Olympic qualifier against Malaysia, the taste of victory was even sweeter than for many of his teammates.

Now has the chance to go one better by winning a medal in the 2023 Men’s FIH World Cup that takes place in India from 13-29 January in India.

A career-threatening injury left Sam Ward blind in one eye

Ward’s road to the medal in Birmingham was plagued by obstacles that at one time seemed insurmountable.

In November 2019, the prolific goalscorer was hit by an 80km per hour (50mph) shot by teammate Harry Martin as his side homed in on a place at Tokyo 2020.

The injury left him with multiple facial fractures. But worst of all was the news that he had lost sight in his left eye, with doctors unable to predict how much vision he would regain.

The immediate reaction from the press included a BBC article that stated he had been forced to retire. However, Ward refused to give up and just two years later was named as part of the Great Britain team that would come fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"Early on it was looking not that great,” Ward said of his journey back from injury. “I was struggling to have any form of depth perception having lost all my central vision in my eye but unbelievably the brain's pretty impressive and it learns to adapt and as time's gone on it's gone from strength to strength."

Sam Ward: From car salesman to free-scoring hockey international

Unlike many of his GB teammates, Ward didn’t feature in any of the international teams during his younger years.

After an initial stint starring for Leicester Ladies Hockey Club that included “playing quite a few games in a skirt”, he moved to Beeston playing regional hockey until around the age of 18.

But while he had an obvious knack for goals, the young player’s self-confessed low fitness levels always stopped him from taking the steps into the highest levels of the sport.

Having taken a role as a car salesman at a Volkswagen dealership, Ward was about to make the decision to give up the sport before a phone call from England Coach Bobby Crutchley turned his life around forever.

After training in the Team GB setup - often on his own as his fitness levels were still considered to be too low for international hockey - Ward made his debut against Australia where he scored two goals.

But while he was celebrating a first start to remember, Crutchley still had a word of warning for the young player.

“Don’t think International hockey is easy - you’re still not fit enough,” he said.

Armed with a new determination to succeed on the international stage, Ward worked hard to get himself into the physical stage needed to thrive against the best teams in the world.

It was the beginning of a career that has seen him go to both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

A second chance at international glory for Sam Ward

There’s little doubt that Ward is one of the most talented goalscorers his country has ever produced. After 84 games for England, the 32-year-old has scored 62 goals and has two Commonwealth Games bronze medals (2018, 2022) in his trophy cabinet.

His remarkable return from the eye injury that threatened his career has also seen him finish as the joint-highest goalscorer at the 2021 EuroHockey Championships while he was selected for Team GB’s campaign at Tokyo 2020 where he scored five goals.

"All athletes are wired differently or they wouldn’t achieve what they have," Ward said of the effort it took to return to the England setup.

“I’m probably wired even more differently — you would probably say I’m just a bit stupid really. Getting back on the pitch was massive."

Yet on the Olympic stage, there is still unfinished business.

A first-round knockout in Rio was followed by a quarterfinal defeat in Tokyo, both of which can be seen as relative disappointments for the three-time gold medal winners who last won Olympic gold back in 1988.

But with Paris 2024 just two years away, Ward has the opportunity to turn his remarkable comeback story into something even more special.

And the journey begins in earnest at the FIH World Cup in India where he has been selected to represent England who face Wales, India and Spain in the group stage that takes place between 13 and 19 January.

England have never won the hockey World Cup, with their best finish a loss to Australia in the final of the 1986 edition.

However, with a goalscorer like Ward, backed by the determination a second chance at glory will give him, the men in red will be hoping that this is the tournament they finally take their place on the top step of the podium.