Harry Fröling is ready to leave the darkest chapter of his life behind him.
It was just after 2:30am on Sunday morning in January 2023 when Froling was the victim of a violent blow outside a Wollongong nightclub. The then Brisbane Bullets big man fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement, suffering multiple injuries – including a fractured skull – that required emergency surgery to repair the bleeding on his brain.
More than 19 months later, Froling still has headaches and memory problems. The 26-year-old’s professional basketball career has been put on hold indefinitely while he recovers. The only consolation came on Friday afternoon when the perpetrator of the King Hit – Nathan Mesinez – was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison by the Wollongong District Court. Mesinez will be eligible for parole after serving one year and four months of his sentence.
“I’m glad it’s finally over,” Fröling told ESPN.
“It was a long and drawn-out process in which I know nothing because I don’t remember the night of the incident. I heard from third parties, there were accusations and various things that happened during the night. Now I see the true facts and I am definitely relieved because I know that I did not do anything that warrants a conviction.”
These consistent facts indicated that Froling, then aged 24, visited Heyday nightclub in Wollongong after attending a match between the Bullets and the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday night. The violent incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning as Froling was leaving the club. He walked down Crown Street and stopped next to a group of women he had met at the club earlier in the evening. One of the women was Mesinez’s partner. Mesinez was sitting on the pavement next to Froling and the group of women.
As Fröling stood near the group of women, Mesinez stood up and told him to “fuck off and leave.” One of the women pushed Fröling in the chest, whereupon Mesinez stepped between them. Fröling said to Mesinez: “What are you going to do about it? Hit me?”
Mesinez hit Froling, who fell backwards onto the sidewalk and hit his head.
Another group of women passing by – nurses – stopped to help Fröling. The police arrived at 2:45 a.m.
The stroke changed Fröling’s life completely. After brain surgery, he spent 10 days in hospital and has suffered from a variety of symptoms since then.
“It’s headaches and weight gain because I went from full-time sport to working all the time and now I’ve been sitting on my butt for more than 12 months and can’t do much,” Fröling said.
“I’m sleep deprived, a bit of insomnia. Memory has been a big problem. I forget things. (My friend) Emmett (Naar) told me there was a photo in Oodies of me and (Daniel) Grida walking through the tunnel when we played for Wollongong and I couldn’t even remember it. I saw the photo of it and I couldn’t even remember it. That was only a year ago. I was in denial (the memory loss). I still suffer PTSD from that night and the financial side of it hurt; not having an income and being on disability pension.”
Froling says he still has some problems. His headaches “come and go” and he still has problems with his memory. Added to the physical injuries he suffered was the fear of not being able to tell his story or risk jeopardizing his case.
Froling’s career ended unhappily after he was once a Division I college athlete and played professional basketball for five years – and won the NBL Rookie of the Year Award in 2019. When the incident occurred, he was averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Bullets, still in the early stages of what was supposed to be a long NBL career.
“The worst thing was losing my whole life, my whole career,” said Fröling.
“I lost two years of wages and two years of pension. I couldn’t work. All I knew was basketball. I couldn’t get on the field and do all that stuff for so long. When your whole identity is ripped away from you overnight, you’re thrown into a pretty grim situation. And then I didn’t know what he would say and what they would say about me.”
However, Fröling has hope.
He says that at the moment, the slow improvement of his general health takes priority over trying to return to the sport.
There are still obstacles he must overcome before he fully commits to a return to professional basketball, but these are the steps he is taking right now. The Townsville native is continuing his rehab process – with the help of Mackay Basketball, of which he was a regular supporter during the NBL1 season – and is focusing on losing the weight he gained during the long period of inactivity.
“I dream of playing basketball again,” said Fröling.
“There’s still a long way to go, but I’m doing everything I can to get back to the top. I’m doing what I can. It’s my career. It’s my first love. I kind of want to be part of it. It’s been great being at Mackay basketball and those guys helping me, and just the rehab, being with the strength coach, all that stuff; just trying to get healthy and get my overall health under control.
“If I could come back and play again, that would be a dream of mine. It all depends on how I feel and how my body reacts. I think that’s the difficult part.
“I may never play again, that’s the reality, but I would love to and do everything in my power to get as healthy as possible and come back.”
