Nathan Eagleton relives own experience following Kayle Kirby’s heart scare

COLLINGWOOD is confident Kayle Kirby can return to football but nearly 20 years ago Nathan Eagleton, who collapsed in the middle of an AFL ground in identical circumstances, would return within a month.

Kayle Kirby collapsed last week during a VFL game. Picture: Michael Klein

NEARLY 20 years before Collingwood’s Kayle Kirby, Nathan Eagleton was a 19-year-old kid desperate to make his way in the AFL.

In identical circumstances, the Port Adelaide midfielder collapsed in the middle of an AFL ground with an irregular heartbeat.

For Eagleton, the venue was Adelaide’s Football Park and his heart was thumping at 280 beats per minute.

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But while the Pies are still investigating the exact cause of Kirby’s issues, 277-game veteran Eagleton would return to football within the month.

Kirby returned to the Holden Centre on Wednesday with coach Nathan Buckley optimistic he can return to football as doctors continue to monitor him.

Port Adelaide and Bulldogs left-footer Eagleton said he chose to have keyhole surgery to fix the issue rather than take medication for the rest of his life.

Kayle Kirby must wait for medial clearance before returning to training. Picture: Michael Klein

He hasn’t had an issue since those dramatic scenes in Round 15, 1999.

“I was only 19 at the time, a bit like (Kale) and only new to the system,’’ he said.

“I was sitting in a doctor’s surgery on Monday after being on Footy Park collapsing and then you think, ‘What the hell is going on here?’

“I was seeing neurosurgeons for my brain, heart surgeons, all these different specialists in their field trying to get to the bottom of it.

“But it is probably a good thing it happened on the footy field and I had people from Port Adelaide trying to help me and in a quick time span.

“With Kale, he has got to find out what it is and find out what the process is. But they will find the source and hopefully it’s something similar and it’s not going to have a long-term effect.

“They can do something to correct it and its just a hurdle to get through and it will be onwards and upwards from there.”

Nathan Eagleton receives attention after collapsing in the middle of Football Park.

Eagleton was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome, but while Sydney’s John Stevens required open-heart surgery for the same issue Eagleton was out of hospital the next day.

Buckley said the Pies were still dealing with the fallout of the collapse but confident Kirby could make a strong recovery.

“Kale’s heart rate has stabilised and his rhythm has stabilised,’’ he said.

“It was clearly a shock for him and some of his teammates around him.

“He was back at the club today and looking well and looking forward to getting back into the swing of it.

“There are a few more investigations to find out what caused it and to make sure we can adequately prepare him and us for any further eventualities, which we are not expecting.”

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