Peta Hiku has revealed that he was forced to go to hospital - following a run-in with a firework! The Hull KR star has shared a graphic photo of his injuries with Rugby League Live after securing a gruesome thumb injury following the incident.

Hiku, who spent Rover's warm-weather training cap with thick protective strapping on, was setting off fireworks as part of celebrations for New Year's Eve. However, one pyrotechnic, rather than illuminating the sky, wreaked havoc with the New Zealand international instead.

"I went to light up a firework and it just didn't quite go to plan, it was still in my hand," Hiku said. "At the time, it didn't hurt so much, it was more of a shock. Then five minutes later, I came to and it was killing.

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"I had to have the nail removed. I had to go to the hospital. It was split, they had to clear all the residue and stitch it back up."

WARNING: Graphic photo below.

While the pain was excruciating, more agonising for Hiku was the wait to tell head coach Willie Peters about the matter.

"When you say you've been injured by a firework, you know it's not going to sound too great to the coaches. Willie, at first he seemed worried. But he started joking not too long after.

"But I'm not going to lie I was stressing the night before about how I was going to tell him. Two nights in a row, I couldn't sleep for thinking how I was going to tell him. Once I had, I slept like a baby, for like eleven hours, I think that was my body starting to relax!"

Thankfully, the accident hasn't had a major impact on his preparations for the new season.

"There's much more strength in it now," Hiku said. "In the first week, I couldn't touch a thing with it. For something so stupid too. I couldn't really grip anything at first. I could catch and pass but I couldn't do the wrestle or contact things. But I'm getting back into it now."

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