Former Crow Ian Callinan on the road to recovery after having a stroke at 37

Ian Callinan woke up with a ringing in his ears and couldn’t even grab a tissue from the box. He had suffered a stroke while asleep. The former Crow reveals for the first time what happened and how the support of footy friends and foes helped his recovery.

Former Adelaide player Ian Callinan had a stroke while he was asleep. Picture: Sarah Reed

For the first time in his life, or his football career at least, Ian Callinan’s timing abandoned him.

A naturally brilliant footballer who appears at the right place at the right time and can kick a front-and-centre goal with his eyes closed, Callinan knew something was seriously wrong when he couldn’t even grab a tissue from the box at home.

It was September 3 and the former Crow and Central District premiership hero had woken up in Hobart with a ringing in his ears, and unbeknown to him he’d had a stroke while asleep at the age of 37.

“I thought ‘gee that feels strange’ and I lay there thinking it would go way but it didn’t,” Callinan said.

“It was my right arm and right leg, I could feel them but I didn’t have control or timing, it was like a dead arm when you sleep on it.

“I went to the toilet and came out and Lauren (wife) said ‘are you all right?’ because she was about to go for a walk, and I was holding my arm and said I didn’t feel too good.

“Then I was sick in a bucket and she went to give me some tissues and I couldn’t grab them, she put them in front of me but I was grabbing a metre away from them.

“I had no concept of doing anything.”

Ian Callinan kicked 39 goals in 23 games for the Crows during the 2012 AFL season including the preliminary final.

In the lead up to having the stroke, Callinan was flying at footy training even doing extra running in preparation for finals, but had a few turns which required medical attention.

“Six or seven weeks before it happened I had a few episodes, one blackout at work and a couple of other things where I thought I was going to black out and didn’t,” he said.

“They did all the tests they could on my heart and brain, CT scans with the dye and all that and they just couldn’t find anything.

“That was six weeks before the stroke so I thought I was doing all right to be honest and didn’t have any episodes after that.”

But on the morning of September 3 he was rushed to hospital where an MRI scan showed a blockage stopping the blood flow to his brain which could have been fatal.

He was put on blood thinners and under observation for five days where further examination revealed a hole in his heart that will require surgery later this month.

“If the stroke didn’t happen I might have never known about it,” he said.

“You could go your whole life not noticing it but I had a blood clot which went through the hole in my heart and up towards my brain.”

Callinan played in four flags and won a Jack Oatey Medal for Central District.

Callinan works as a sprinkler fitter installing fire protection and won’t be back at work or allowed to drive for at least another month.

“I can walk and all that and saw the physio and occupational therapist yesterday, I can’t go back to work yet but I’m not really ready for that, it’s more the fatigue they’re worried about,” he said.

“Fine motor skills like picking up coins or putting nuts on screws, I found that really difficult and I’m getting much better but because I concentrate while I’m doing it that’s what makes me tired.

“I still slur my words a little bit when I get tired and I’m seeing a speech therapist next week but it’s not bad, most people might not even notice.”

The father of three played this footy season with the OHA Ships who came from five goals down to break an 11-year premiership drought in their Tasmanian grand final against Hutchins last weekend.

Callinan with his Jack Oatey Medal in 2010.

Callinan went to training on the Thursday night and was at the game on Saturday watching from a box on his own where he had a phone line to the coach on the boundary.

“I was excited to watch and disappointed I couldn’t play in the same sentence really but like I said to most of them, I’ve been pretty lucky and fortunate enough to win five premierships along the way,” he said.

“So I wasn’t disappointed, I was really happy for them, I went to the game and was pretty tired by the end of it because I was watching it closely for moves and things like that.

“I’m not fussed about not playing footy anymore, I’ll be 38 at the end of the year so I wouldn’t mind getting into the coaching side of it.

“I still want to play cricket, they asked me if I have a goal and that’s it, playing with my brothers and mates I went to school with.

“They seem to think I should be fine later down the track, it’s more about how well my arm goes and facing a ball with the reaction time.”

Callinan said he was overwhelmed by the response of the sporting community both in Tasmania and South Australia.

Callinan said the response from all footy fans, not just Crows and Central District supporters, had been overwhelming since he had his stroke.

“Chris and James (Gowans) were amazing keeping everyone updated over there,” he said.

“And some of the Crows, I still speak to Lynchy and Tex, even JJ and Danger so they’ve been really supportive and so have the AFLPA seeing if I need anything and Granty at Centrals.

“It took me ages to write back to a lot of people because I just couldn’t use my arm.

“The messages I got and even Lauren and through Twitter, I don’t have Facebook but Lauren’s dad does and it was pretty overwhelming, I reckon I would have got 500 or 600 messages.

“Lot of footy people not just here but South Australia – even supporters who don’t follow the Crows or Centrals.

“You think with the Adelaide and Port Adelaide thing it would be different but even Kane Cornes with a few tweets and he’s a guy I played against, and Darren Lehmann, I’ve met Boof a few times and he’s a Centrals man but blokes of that ilk show how many people care.

“And I know Boof has had his (heart) scare so to get a message from him was pretty big.