Wife opens up on AFL icon’s ‘horrible’ health news
The football world has been left stunned after an AFL legend on Sunday came out and revealed the private battle he has fought.
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AFL cult hero Neil Balme has gone public with his secret battle following a recent epilepsy diagnosis.
The 71-year-old was only diagnosed with the condition in 2020 after suffering his first seizure which came from out of the blue when he had been in bed with his wife.
Balme, one of the key figures in Richmond’s recent premiership dynasty as the club’s head of football, said he has no memory of the seizure and has since had further episodes.
“I woke up in the ambulance — I haven’t got a great recall of this — but I woke up and said, ‘Where the F am I?’” Balme told 7NEWS.
“I genuinely can’t recall all that stuff,” he admitted.
“Anything could have happened. It is pretty scary, when you think about it.”
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His wife Carmel has also opened up about the scary incident.
“This horrible noise like a koala just started happening and I looked to my left and it was Neil clinching his teeth and making the worst noise ever,” she said.
Balme has lost around 20kg since the first seizure.
He is speaking out publicly about his battles after taking up a position as an ambassador for the Walk For Epilepsy fundraising campaign.
He earlier told News Corp: “It’s lucky my wife was there because if I was on my own I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.
“I was making crazy noises and shaking, and I was sort of knocked out. She was terrified.
“She tried to make sure I was breathing and checked my heart and realised something bad was going on so she rang triple-0.
“I woke up in the ambulance going, ‘Where the hell am I?’ I was in hospital for a few days and they sort of figured it out.”
Balme played 159 games for Richmond in the 1970s including the 1973 and 1974 premierships and coached Melbourne for 98 games in the ‘90s.
He is now encouraging others impacted by epilepsy to similarly open up about it.
“I believe everything you’ve got, you’re better off getting it out there, talking about it — you’re not going to fix it by denying it,” he said.
The Walk For Epilepsy fundraising campaign begins October 1.
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