EFL 2019: Templestowe forward Daniel Cripps on the road to recovery from broken leg
Templestowe star Daniel Cripps is facing a long stint on the sidelines and may not return to football as he continues his recovery after breaking both bones in his leg earlier this season.
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Templestowe star Daniel Cripps is unsure if he will return to football after undergoing six surgeries to repair a broken leg.
Cripps spent more than three weeks in Box Hill and Maroondah hospitals after breaking his tibia and fibula in his left leg in the Round 2 clash against Scoresby on April 13.
Templestowe coach Craig De Corsey labelled it “as bad an injury” he had seen in football.
Cripps, the brother of Carlton co-captain Patrick, went up for a mark and landed awkwardly in a marking contest.
The West Australian had a 38cm rod inserted in his leg the night of the injury and underwent a skin flap procedure but had complications from infection.
He only returned to work as a mortgage broker last week, nearly two months after the injury.
“Probably the biggest problem I had, when I hit the ground, I got heaps of grass and dirt in the wound and had a few issues with infection in the first week,” Cripps said.
He said there had been the threat of amputation.
“There were stages when the doctors did have concerns about my leg … if they had to go down that path of amputation,” he said.
“It probably never got really close to that but they were definitely concerned at some stages when it did get infected and I got put on antibiotics straight away.
“They said, ‘if you don’t react well to this then there are concerns’ but pretty much after the first week, everything started to get better.
“I wouldn’t say it ever got to the stage they were considering it, they were just saying they were hoping the infection wouldn’t get too much worse.”
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The star forward kicked 55 goals in his first season in the Eastern Football League last year and was named in the Division 3 Team of the Year.
He will remain on antibiotics for 12 months and will have the rod removed next year.
Doctors expect he will make a full recovery but the threat of infection remains.
Cripps said he was unsure if he would return next season.
“I’ll see mentally how I hold up. I’ve broken a few bones before so when it happened, I was sort of like, ‘not again’,” he said.
“If I was really keen to get back, I don’t think this injury would stop me ever playing footy again.
“I’m just not sure the logistics of it yet. I wouldn’t say it’s a lifelong injury for footy, it’s just whether I want to get back.”
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