West Coast Eagles: Chris Waterman expresses concerns over club‘s initial response to son Jake’s hospitalisation

Jake Waterman has experienced a scary few weeks. His father Chris believes the Eagles could have done more, writes MARK DUFFIELD.

The father of Jake Waterman is disappointed about the care shown by the Eagles in the wake of his illness. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Dual West Coast premiership player Chris Waterman has questioned the Eagles’ care for his son after current player Jake was hospitalised with inflammatory bowel disease.

Waterman was put on a plane and flown home from Adelaide after falling ill before the Eagles’ round 13 clash with the Crows.

The tall forward, 25, who has played 84 games for the Eagles including 11 of their 14 games this year, faces an unclear playing future and is undergoing infusions to try and settle the inflammation and prevent the need for surgery.

“He is hopefully on the improve but how long it takes – if it is a full recovery we are still unsure. It is a wait and see at the moment,” Chris Waterman, who played in the Eagles’ 1992 and 1994 flags, told SEN.

Waterman said he was disappointed that the Eagles hadn’t reached out sooner to check on Jake’s welfare after sending him home on a plane.

Waterman was sent home from Adelaide after falling ill. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“When I rang him on Saturday in Adelaide he was basically just curled up in a ball and I thought, ‘OK, it is a bit more serious and they texted me and said they were sending him home.’

“It has been just over two weeks. It has been a pretty heavy two weeks for him – the first four or five days he was really sick. Luckily the people at Hollywood (Hospital) were fantastic and looked after him. He has been out for a week now.

“The club has got a lot going on obviously – family and friends are 24-7 around the clock checking on him to make sure everything is alright. I thought they (the club) could have probably reached out a bit earlier to check on him. They sent him home from Adelaide on a plane, pretty crook. To find out he was in hospital on Monday night – the first time they contacted him (was a) bit disappointing. You would have thought they would have reached out and just checked on him.

“Since then, they know it is pretty serious and they have got to do what they can do. They have got to act on it, make sure they keep their eye on him if they want him on the list. He is 25 and coming out of contract so – put some time into him I would have thought.”

There are fears over Waterman’s playing future. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Asked if there was a chance that Jake would not play again Chris said: “There is that small percentage according to the doctors that could possibly happen. They all want to get him back to normal health and that is what they are all heading towards and they think that is where it is going to head. Whether he is on medication or not for his life we are not sure. It is not cut and clear at the moment.”

“It is an inflammatory bowel disease, which may be or may not be incurable. That is the part we are just getting towards and the final stage is potentially surgery and we are hoping that we don’t get to that and we are hoping that the infusions will settle the inflammation down and he may just have to do infusions for a few more years before it gets back to normal.

“The first four or five days he was really sick but more often than not you can get back to a normal life.”

Originally published as West Coast Eagles: Chris Waterman expresses concerns over club‘s initial response to son Jake’s hospitalisation