Wayne Rooney cuts ear 'larking around' on yacht

Wayne Rooney (pic:sm/philcoburn/johngladwin)

Wayne Rooney needed 45 stitches in an emergency operation to save his ear .

The England and Manchester United star was hurt as he "larked around" with friends aboard his £150,000-a-week chartered yacht after spending all night out partying.

The striker, holidaying in St Tropez on the French Riviera, fell to the ground in agony with blood spurting from his left ear as crewmen raced to help him.

He was then rushed to shore by tender while an ambulance was called to the dockside, and taken the 10 miles to St Tropez hospital's surgery clinic after the drama at 8.30am on Friday.

Earlier reports had suggested Rooney, 23, had simply fallen and cut open his head.

But he told staff at the hospital his ear lobe was torn through while "larking about" with pals.

Just hours earlier, Rooney - on holiday at the chic resort with wife Coleen, who is six months pregnant - had been out drinking with male friends at the famous Quai Joseph nightclub.

He and two pals had only returned at dawn to the 42-metre yacht. At the hospital, with a worried Coleen at his side, one of France's top plastic surgeons, Dr Mathieu Piquet, carried out the delicate surgery required to sew back the lobe.

Rooney finally left the hospital five hours later, his head shielded by a baseball cap and a blue hoodie. His ear is likely to be bandaged for two weeks.

A source at the hospital said: "Mr Rooney arrived at about 9am after an accident on the deck of a yacht.

"Part of his ear had been nearly sliced off. It was really difficult to sew back up because it was bleeding so profusely, so we called in a specialist cosmetic surgeon. The work was delicate, but the operation was completely successful and the ear is expected to look no different once it has healed."

Yesterday Dr Piquet said: "I never discuss my patients."

But last night Rooney's spokesman said: "Wayne has had a number of stitches in his ear following an accident on board the boat. The procedure was carried out under local anaesthetic."

Yacht charter broker Maureen McManus said crews on luxury yachts are fully trained in first aid and would have been in "complete control" of the situation.

She said: "There are all kinds of hooks and fittings on board deck that can cause serious injury.

"But the crew would have rushed him to shore in a tender and ensured he was taken to hospital as soon as possible. He would have been in very safe hands."

She added: "Yacht guests are always advised to walk slowly and carefully on deck, and not lark about - even if they are paying £150,000 a week."

The £90,000-a-week footballer had already been making bosses at Man Utd nervous about injuries by para-sailing and jet-skiing on the jaunt to the Riviera.

His manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been informed of the incident.

The holiday is the Rooneys' second this summer. Last month the couple soaked up the sun in the Caribbean.