National middle- and long-distance star Yeshnil Karan underwent successful surgery for acute appendicitis at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane last weekend and will miss a string of major competitions scheduled for May, team and medical officials confirmed on Monday.
Medical staff said Karan’s condition developed rapidly and was not related to his training load. Surgeons at the Brisbane hospital carried out the operation over the weekend and report that the procedure went as planned. Karan remains under observation but is recovering well and is expected to be discharged in the coming days, with doctors expressing confidence he will make a full recovery.
The operation means Karan has had to withdraw from several upcoming events. He will no longer contest the Australian Championships, the UniSport Australian Championships and the Oceania Championships, all pencilled in for May. Those withdrawals were confirmed as Karan focuses on post-operative recovery and regaining full fitness before resuming competition.
Karan is one of the Pacific region’s leading middle- and long-distance runners and his absence removes a prominent contender from the May calendar. Team officials said they will work through replacement options for selection panels and relay any further updates on squad lists once Karan has been formally discharged and his rehabilitation plan is clearer.
Medical advisors at Princess Alexandra Hospital indicated that acute appendicitis can require urgent surgery when symptoms progress quickly, and that timely intervention typically leads to full recovery. While the precise timeline for Karan’s return to competitive training has not been set, physicians treating him have given a cautiously optimistic outlook that he will be able to resume his athletics career following standard post-operative rehabilitation.
The athletics community in Fiji and the wider Pacific has been informed of the surgery, and messages of support have started to appear from peers and officials. Further updates on Karan’s condition, discharge and rehabilitation programme are expected once he leaves hospital and returns to supervised recovery.
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