So catastrophic was the damaged caused to his eye socket following a clash of heads in only his second game of the season against Edinburgh at Murrayfield that he struggled to see properly for the next five months.
He sat out the rest of the season, struggled to see his new born daughter and wondered what the future held for him.
But after careful recuperation, and expert medical support, he is back to full fitness and ready to enhance his reputation as the player who likes to put his head in where it hurts.
The predatory back row man, now heading into his prime at 26, is in the Cardiff side to host Bath on Friday night in his club’s final warm-up game before kicking-off their United Rugby Championship campaign against Connacht at the Arms Park.
With two metal plates surrounding his eye Boyde isn’t concerned about a repeat to the injury he sustained in November, 2020. He suffered a double fracture to his orbit and his eye went back into the eye socket and “blew everything out”.
“It’s tough to talk about and it was the hardest point of my career. I got injured 12 minutes into the game up in Edinburgh and haven’t played again since,” said Boyde.
“It was just a freak accident, you could say his head hit the sweet spot. If it had hit my cheekbone or top of my head it would have been fine.
“The pressure of my eye going back into my eye socket blew everything out. I had a very long period of thick double vision and was losing my eyesight for a good three or four months.
“It was a very tough time for me and my family and it took a long time to mend. It was a very rare case, something like 1 in 10,000, and for a long time I didn’t think I would play again.”
After undergoing surgery the long haul back to fitness took its toll. The doctors and physios were unsure how best to treat him to begin with and running was out of the question at the start.
Throw in the double vision, not being able to drive and the pressures of a young family, and it is easy to see why Boyde was so concerned about his future.
“It was new to a lot of people in terms of dealing with it. I had a young family to deal with throughout the injury and I had a new born daughter. It was very difficult at home. When the baby was born, I could just about see her up close with the one eye,” he added.
“I still have ongoing issues on my peripheral vision, but in terms of rugby we have done all the tests and I’m good to go. I’ve got two large strong metal plates around my eye, so it’s stronger than before.”
Having welcomed back Ellis Jenkins last week in the 11-try thriller against English champions Harlequins, Cardiff’s director of rugby Dai Young will be delighted to have another key back row man back on the field and ready to push for a place in his starting XV.
Boyde will pack down alongside James Ratti and Josh Turnbull, one of a number of Welsh internationals ready to resume after their summer break. Rhys Priestland gets a first start at No 10 against his former club.
Cardiff Rugby: Hallam Amos; Owen Lane, Rey Lee-Lo, Max Llewellyn, Jason Harries; Rhys Priestland, Lloyd Williams; Corey Domachowski, Liam Belcher, Dmitri Arhip, Seb Davies, Rory Thornton, Josh Turnbull (capt), Will Boyde, James Ratti
Reps: Kirby Myhill, Rhys Carré, Dillon Lewis, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Ellis Jenkins, Ellis Bevan, Jason Tovey, Matthew Morgan, Alun Lawrence, Garyn Smith, Willis Halaholo
