‘Six hours, 80 stitches and a skin graft’: Inside John Walker’s remarkable 42-day recovery from ‘just a normal corky’

How a common corky in a game of local footy nearly cost this Melbourne man his leg. Go inside his harrowing tale and remarkable recovery.

John Walker.

Springvale Districts defender John Walker “thought nothing of it”.

He suffered a corky to his left calf during the first quarter of a practice game against Bonbeach in March.

Walker continued on after the knock, playing out the majority of the match.

But what he thought “was a normal corky” soon turned into something more sinister.

Once he lost feeling in his leg the next day, Walker went to hospital to get it checked, and it was there where nurses raised amputation concern.

“I went to the beach that night for a bit of recovery, went to bed and thought it was just a normal corky,” Walker said.

“I woke up Sunday still really sore, back to the beach, more recovery.

“The day went on, I got ready for work and then I started losing the feeling in my leg so I thought I should get it looked at.

“I went to hospital and ended up going straight into surgery … six hours, 80 stitches and a skin graft later, here it is.”

The outside of John Walker's leg.

The inside.

The medical term of Walker’s injury is Compartment Syndrome.

It’s caused by a pressure build up that decreases blood flow and eventually deprives the muscles and nerves of the correct nourishment.

Former St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary sustained the same injury in 2019, but Geary’s gruesome wound required half as many stitches.

Unaware of the extent of the situation, Walker thought the nurses “were joking around”.

“They pretty much said ‘you need to go under the knife immediately otherwise you’re losing a foot’,” he said.

“At first I thought they were joking around, ‘whatever, it’s just a bit of a knock’.

“When I started signing the wavers, that’s when I thought ‘this is pretty serious now, hey?’

“I was two hours off losing a foot, so I was glad to go (to hospital) when I went.”

John Walker (left) with coach Kris Thompson after they both represented the Southern league at interleague.

The 26-year-old came out of surgery on the Monday and put in a call to coach Kris Thompson.

Thompson immediately thought he was the butt of a Walker prank.

“I didn’t know what to think, I thought he was taking the piss, to be honest,” Thompson said.

“He’d already had the surgery, I didn’t know much about it, all I remembered was the Jarryn Geary injury.

“I saw him on the Tuesday in hospital and I was watching him in serious pain, he couldn’t put any weight on his foot.

“I thought ‘he’s done for the year, no way he’s coming back from this’.”

Walker takes a kick last year. Picture: Valeriu Campan

As soon as Walker could put weight on his foot, he started his comeback campaign.

“I started walking as soon as I could and nutrition is big, everyone overlooks it but what you eat, the more you hydrate, you build the foundations and the body heals pretty quickly,” Walker said.

“Luckily enough I had a pretty good base and was mentally strong enough to keep persevering.

“A lot of the boys at Springy were getting around me, making sure I was getting back on my feet.”

Picture: Valeriu Campan

Walker made his return on Saturday, April 27, a sharp 41-days after surgery.

And eight weeks after it, he represented the Southern league in interleague.

The left-footer played his role in a tight win, even if he did get “a little electric shock” each time he cleared the ball.

“It’s just nerve damage now, the nerves will start regenerating in a few months,” he said.

“Down the back of my leg I still have feeling but the front of my shin, top of my foot it’s just all numb.

“It’s kind of like a little electric shock going through my leg whenever I kick it.

“They reckon about 80 per cent of it will come back.”

Thompson is “super proud” of Walker’s recovery but isn’t shocked as “he is the ultimate professional”.