Former AFL player Patrick Bines secures life-changing payout after suffering crippling neck injury

Former AFL player Patrick Bines once went 40 hours without sleep due to the pain from a career-ending neck injury. He’s now reached a major milestone in his journey.

Former West Coast player Patrick Bines has won a significant compensation claim. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Former West Coast player Patrick Bines has had his insurance claim for permanent total disability approved on the third attempt in a watershed moment for damaged players leaving football.

The Herald Sun can reveal Bines, a West Coast Category B rookie in 2019, will receive a $500,000 lump sum payment from AMP that will allow him to get his life back on track after a harrowing departure from the game.

Bines has needed nearly 20 neck surgeries and interventions including a spinal fusion after an on-field spoil to his neck resulted in crippling pain so bad he had to lie in bed for up to 22 hours a day.

At one stage the constant pain grew so debilitating he went to a Richmond injecting room to source and use morphine to reduce his symptoms after 40 hours without sleep.

Bines also considered whether to take his own life after speaking with members of Victoria’s voluntary euthanasia society.

Now the payout will allow him to go back to the AFL to launch a more significant compensation claim after receiving a modest payout through the AFLPA injury and hardship fund.

Former West Coast Eagles footballer Patrick Bines suffered a debilitating injury and will receive $500,000 in compensation Picture: NCA NewsWire/Nicki Connolly

His advocate Peter Jess accessed the help of medical claims expert Adriana Oreskov, from Findex Financial Services, who was able to submit a claim that navigated the tight parameters of the total permanent disability provisions.

The breakthrough will give other players who were knocked back under the same clause hope they can also access payouts after brain trauma, repeat concussions and orthopaedic issues.

At least 1500 past players had the same insurance through the AMP superannuation fund.

Bines told the Herald Sun his harrowing story in April and said after so many knock-backs he was thrilled to finally be vindicated.

Back in Melbourne for the past three years, the former bayside junior football star said the payout would allow him to continue searching for a pain-free life.

“I took the call this morning and I literally can’t explain it. I am stoked. They have finally accepted it. They finally understand how severe my injuries are and the fact I can’t work and haven’t worked since the accident. I can’t explain what this means to me,” Bines said.

“The main thing is I can finally get the treatment I need. I can get the kind of treatment from the neurological experts that can cost $6000-$7000 a month. It will be just below $400,000 after tax so I can put it towards rehab and I can finally get the treatment I need. It’s my life I am playing with.

“This gives a lot of players hope under this policy that something can be done. I hope other people can be compensated too. So many players have been silent for so long and it’s not a huge amount. I hope the AFL can do something about compensation, but it’s the first step to get my rehab started.”

Patrick Bines playing for the Eagles in the WAFL. Picture: Daniel Carson/Getty Images

Bines joins Melbourne high flyer Shaun Smith, who won a $1.4 million payout for “total and permanent disablement” as a result of repeated head knocks.

Smith used his own insurer rather than the AFL-aligned AMP so the Bines decision sets a more significant precedent.

Bines said he had no regrets about laying the painful circumstances of his ordeal on the line but was blown away by the response to his story from people as far as the NBA, NBL and Euroleague basketball communities.

“It was unbelievable. Support from family and friends, every single community I have been involved in. Basketball, Basketball Australia, AFL, people suffering from chronic pain,” he said of the over 2000 messages, calls and emails.

“I had felt completely dudded by this. Checked out. But people come into your life for a reason and they were there to help. I do believe the AFL will eventually put something in place after all the research about neck and head injuries and not only for head injuries but any injury that causes permanent disablement.”

Jess said the decision to pay Bines’ claim was significant for the 23-year-old but also the entire playing cohort.

“First and foremost, it means he has been given a genuine financial safety net. Now we have to work with the AFL and AFLPA to upgrade his previous claim,” Jess said.

“The insurance expert Adriana Oreskov has created a pathway for a resolution of the terms and conditions and enabled the claim to be paid after it was rejected twice. With the help of Adriana and Findex now have a product that will fit all of the ongoing total and permanent disablement needs of past and present players.

“As regards to Patrick’s compensation we can go back to the AFL to negotiate a better outcome for him as it is beyond comprehension that someone can be judged to have a lifetime impairment and it can be worth less than $100,000.

Patrick Bines suffered a crippling neck injury on the footy field.

Patrick Bines was on the West Coast list in 2019. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Media

“We are currently presenting to the AFL and Peter Gordon to confirm a suitable insurance product developed that will safeguard players in Bines situation as well as any player who had a recognised TPD outcome.”

Oreskov secured more expert opinions from Bines’ doctors and helped submit new medical evidence, saying on Monday she had to prod him to tell the truth about his pain and prognosis.

“I worked with his doctors, I attended appointments with him. He had struggled to be open with his doctors so having me there helped to reassure him. I said, ‘It’s OK, you can tell them what is going on’.

Lawyer and former Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon is reviewing the league’s coverage and exposure for concussion and head knocks.

One avenue is to put more funding into the $4 million-per-year AFLPA Injury and Hardship Fund, but Jess said on Monday players who took the field before 2017 might not be able to access any compensation for career-ending football injuries.

He believes the league will need to find a minimum of $25 million a year for the compensation and care of ex-players and believes past players will have to consider a separate organisation than the AFLPA.

“Four million dollars per year is totally inadequate. I think it should be $25 million as a minimum and the money can come from a direct contribution from gaming,” Jess said.

“We have turned a sport into a gaming product, so that should flow through to past and present players. They are the ones that have provided the ability for the AFL to monetise the game.

“Unless past players have their own group there is a real chance they will not be properly compensated. As it stands the injury and hardship fund only applies to players post-2017 for career ending football injuries.

“So past players who finished from that date back need to have a say at the negotiating table for the collective bargaining agreement. My fear is all past players pre-2017 will be quarantined from making claims for compensation.

“So it could well be time for the past players to create their own structure to make direct representations to the AFL to ensure they are looked after on a fair and equitable basis in the new CBA.”

Originally published as Former AFL player Patrick Bines secures life-changing payout after suffering crippling neck injury