Getting knocked out might have saved Kilmore captain Mick Marrett’s life

Kilmore captain Mick Marrett was knocked out on Saturday, it might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him after a tumour was found on his brain.

Kilmore captain Mick Marrett with his children.

When Mick Marrett was knocked unconscious on Saturday afternoon, it probably saved his life.

The melee that followed on the final siren of Kilmore’s NFNL Division 3 clash with Fitzroy Stars at JJ Clancy Reserve would today be hugs and handshakes.

A 7cm tumour was found on the Two Blues captain’s brain that night and four days later he was undergoing surgery.

The surgery was a success but, proving how lucky the father of two was, surgeons found the tumour had spread to his skull and left undetected any longer could have been deadly.

A local policeman, Marrett faces a six-month recovery, with a GoFundMe set up to support his family and more than $26,000 raised in just five hours.

Kilmore president, and long-time mate, Leigh Irons said a scan to check concussion found the tumour.

“It’s one of those things where you look back and think, ‘thank God he got a knock’,” Irons said.

“He was still showing concussion symptoms on Saturday night and thankfully his beautiful wife, Kimmy, dragged him to the hospital to get checked out.

“He went to Kilmore but was still having a few dramas so they took him down to the Northern for a CT Scan, to make sure there was no bleeding on the brain – thankfully there wasn’t, but they found a brain tumour.

“He was transferred to St Vincent’s, he had the operation to remove it (Wednesday) afternoon and that’s gone as good as they could have hoped.

“They were able to remove about 98 per cent of it, there was just a little bit that was too close to a main artery.

“All the early signs, bloods markers and other things they go off, suggests it is benign, so not cancerous.”

Irons revealed Marrett hadn’t displayed any symptoms before Saturday’s hit.

Finding the tumour early was critical.

The tumour had infected his skull and left any longer could have spread further.

Mick Marrett in action for Kilmore. Picture: Field of View Photography

Irons said receiving a phone call from Marrett on Thursday morning was one of the best moments of his life.

“They said as soon as they opened him up it had attached to his skull and there was a 50 cent piece of his skull that they couldn’t save because it had infected it,” he said.

“Who knows what that does in two, four, six months time.

“They fixed that up, put some mesh, concrete, plates and screws in there.

“He Face-Timed me this morning, it was the best phone call of my life I’ll tell you, and he told me ‘now I really am a cement-head’. So he’s still laughing and joking and very positive.

“He’ll still be off work for the next three to six months, while he’s recovering.

“VicPol have been awesome, they put Kimmy up in hotel down there so she can stay close by, which is really good.”

The incident occurred in the final seconds of Kilmore’s 44-point loss, Fitzroy Stars co-captain Jai Burns catching Marrett high as the both hunted the ball.

The Northern league has cut footage of the clash and melee that followed from the match vision.

While tempers flared in the immediate aftermath, Irons said it probably now owed Burns a debt of gratitude.

“The bump was nothing, it was a footy action, it wasn’t late or dirty,” Irons said.

“It was two blokes going for the football and his shoulder collected Micky on the chin.

“I was having a chat to Julie, Mick’s mum, at Auskick and she was saying she’ll have to buy Jai a slab and say thank you.

“If he doesn’t attack the footy that hard and that bump doesn’t happen, you think about how that piece of skull was infected and how bad would it be if they’d never found it.”

Marrett will undergo further scans on Thursday and likely remain in hospital over the weekend to monitor his recovery.

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It is hoped he’ll be released next week but still faces a lengthy time off work.

The GoFundMe page was set up by Jayde Lewis and Mel Marrett to support the Marrett family with donations coming from across the Kilmore community and Northern league.

“It shows what a great community we have, not just the football club, but the whole Kilmore community,” Irons said.

“It shows what a great place we live in, when things like this happen it shows what a great community we have.”

Originally published as Getting knocked out might have saved Kilmore captain Mick Marrett’s life