Eli just wants to tackle: Six-year-old with prosthetic leg sidelined in junior rugby row

Footy-loving six-year-old Eli Healy, who wears a prosthetic leg, has been banned from tackling in junior rugby, leaving his family heartbroken and fighting for inclusion.

Footy-mad Eli Healy was allegedly “excluded” from playing with his mates when his team moved from tag to tackle rugby .Picture Thomas Lisson

Eli Healy is a happy, healthy six-year-old whose below-the-knee amputation doesn’t stop him running around on the footy field with his mates.

But the footy-mad Berowra Wallabies player and his family have been left distressed and dismayed after Eli was allegedly “excluded” from playing with his mates when his team moved from tag to tackle rugby.

The little boy had been playing tag footy with the junior rugby league club unhindered for three years, all while sporting a prosthetic limb after having his leg amputated below the knee as a 19-month-old due to a congenital bone condition.

When his under-7s team began their transition from tag to tackle rugby this year, Bec and Stephen Healy assumed their son would join the rest of his mates in learning how to safely play a contact sport.

Bec Healy, with son Eli, has been left distressed and dismayed. Picture Thomas Lisson

Eli Healy just wants to play football. Picture Thomas Lisson

“We registered Eli at the start of the season as we always do, the application and registration was accepted,” Mr Healy said.

“We got all geared up … then we were delivered this really, really awful news.”

Eli. he said, was banned from tackling, forced to wear tags and sidelined in training sessions,

Ms Healy claims a member of the community from within the Wallabies club approached her on the sidelines of a training session one afternoon and informed her that her son would not be able to play tackle rugby.

In email correspondence with club representatives and governing body NSWRL, the Healys were told their club’s insurer, Gallagher Insurance, could not cover Eli to play.

The family sourced letters of support from Eli’s physio, his GP, his prosthetist and even an amputee support group, which all asserted his ability to play full contact rugby.

Ms Healy even contacted the insurer to find out whether Eli’s prosthetic was perceived as a risk to others, and how to fix it.

“His leg is fully foam padded – it’s literally covered like headgear. Eli’s leg is softer than a shin or an elbow or a shoulder,” she said.

Eli Healy isn't just a force to be reckoned with on the footy field. Here he is giving surfing a crack. Picture: Bec Healy

Footy mad Eli Healy at a Parramatta Eels game. Picture: Bec Healy

“We called (the insurer) and they said as long as you can show where you’ve mitigated the risk and that you’re appropriately managing risk then he’s insured.”

Gallagher Insurance has been contacted for comment.

Now Eli is only allowed to take part in his rugby games under strict rules – he cannot tackle or be tackled, and he must wear tags on the turf, though he is the only player in his team who must do so.

In WhatsApp messages Ms Healy was asked if she would “prefer Eli to watch from the side for the first 20-25” minutes of a 45-minute “Tackle Ready” training session.

The Healys say the measures are “inclusion by way of extreme exclusion” and have left the family “isolated”, with their son adding that the situation gave him “two feelings: sad and angry”.

Eli on the bench, was asked to sit out ‘tackle ready’ training. Picture: Supplied

“I wake up every morning now with anxiety in the pit of my stomach,” Ms Healy said.

“Going down to training every Thursday is awful … nobody at the club is providing us with any support on any level.”

When contacted, both Berowra Wallabies and NSWRL declined to comment on the matter, citing the involvement of a minor.

Other kids in Sydney with below-the-knee amputations have been free to take part in all aspects of the game without issue, including Alejandra De Maria’s son Tristan.

Tristan lost his lower left leg in a lawnmower accident aged four, but played tackle rugby for the Narellan Jets from 2017 to 2019 without complaint from his club or their insurer.

“We were never pushed away, and I think that’s why Tristan is so confident,” Ms De Maria said, urging NSWRL and the Wallabies to wind back the restrictions on Eli.

“There’s no reason he can’t run like any other child, tackle like any other child.”

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