St Paul’s senior player Jarryd Blenkinsop retires after suffering neck injury
“Pop, pop, pop, pop.” That was the frightening sound Jarryd Blenkinsop heard after he was tackled to the ground three weeks ago in a Southern league football match.
Southern
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southern. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Jarryd Blenkinsop heard the sound as soon as he hit the ground.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Four cracks, one after the other.
“My neck,’’ the St Paul’s East Bentleigh player said.
Those two words were enough to stop play in the St Paul’s and East Malvern Southern league Division 1 match three weeks ago, and send teammates, opponents, umpires and trainers from both clubs rushing to him.
Blenkinsop, 25, was placed on his side, a St Paul’s physio supporting his head. Don’t move, he was told.
Someone asked if he had feeling in his arms and legs. He did.
But the crunching noise after he was tackled to the ground by two opponents in the third quarter told him something wasn’t right.
“My back, my neck, my shoulder … I wasn’t sure,’’ he said.
An ambulance was called. Blenkinsop’s anxious parents Darren and Michelle came on to the ground, and St Paul’s teammate Matt Kreymborg and East Malvern player Liam Sumner helped fill time by talking “crap’’ to him.
After a 40-minute wait that led to the match being abandoned, the ambulance arrived and took Blenkinsop to The Alfred hospital.
An X-ray initially indicated ligament damage to his neck and a blood clot, but he was unconvinced.
An MRI scan the following day confirmed his fears. There were fractures to the C5, C6, T1 and T2 vertebrae, which explained the pop, pop, pop, pop.
Blenkinsop was placed in a neck brace that he will wear for three months to help with the healing process.
He said he could put up with it; he knew it could have been worse.
“They (doctors) compared me to a few other sports people with a similar thing. They’re not walking,’’ he said.
“They said I was extremely lucky with how it went. So I’m very grateful. No complaints. It (the brace) looks full-on but it’s just something around my neck. It doesn’t really bother me. It’s doing its job.’’
The fractures will be checked in three weeks. “It’s a waiting game now,’’ he said.
But Blenkinsop has decided he’s also played his last game.
“I’m too lucky to be walking,’’ he said. “I wouldn’t want to risk it again. Even though it was a bit of a freak accident, I don’t think I could do it. I love the game. But it’s done.’’
Blenkinsop hasn’t seen the tackle, but he said it was fair. He bears no grudges towards the East Malvern players who took him to ground.
“There was nothing wrong with it. I just got caught in an awkward position,’’ he said. “One guy tackled me, another guy came in. Hard to explain but my body sort of got rolled over the top.’’
Seven days after the incident and wearing the neck brace, Blenkinsop watched St Paul’s play Dingley. After the match the Dingoes auctioned a player-signed Hawthorn Football Club jumper and donated the proceeds to their St Paul’s opponent (the buyer also donated the jumper back to St Paul’s).
Blenkinsop said he’d been overwhelmed by the support.
“I just can’t believe how many people get around you,’’ he said.
“I kind of get a bit flustered about it. I don’t really know how to handle it. I say my thanks and stuff but it still doesn’t feel enough.’’
MORE FOOTY: FATHER-SON PROSPECT INVITED TO STATE COMBINE
He said he now saw the St Paul’s trainers as “close friends’’. The carpenter is also indebted to his employer, DASH Constructions, which, he said, had been understanding and accommodating.
A St Paul’s junior, Blenkinsop progressed to the Doggies’ senior team, extending his family connection to the club (Darren Blenkinsop figured in its 1981 flag).
Stints followed at St Bede’s Mentone Tigers (he attended St Bede’s College) and Sandringham VFL (where played in the Development League) before heading to South Gippsland club Fish Creek.
“I jumped around a bit,’’ he said.
“But I came home to St Paul’s. Turns out that’s where I finished.’’