By Jon Pierik
Demons star Christian Petracca says his sickening injuries in the King’s Birthday clash with Collingwood were akin to being in a car accident and prevented him from even being put under anaesthetic during surgery.
In a raw interview on Monday which will have many football fans squirming, the midfielder, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season, detailed the traumatic events that followed the knee to the back he copped from Collingwood captain Darcy Moore, a good friend of his.
The incident occurred in a marking contest close to quarter-time in last Monday’s blockbuster at the MCG.
Christian Petracca was in immediate pain after the collision, but returned to the field before his condition deteriorated further.Credit: AFL Photos
The 2021 Norm Smith medallist left the field for treatment but returned soon after, before he was subbed out of the game and taken by ambulance to hospital, where it took time for doctors to realise the gravity of his injuries. It was initially thought he had two cracked ribs, but he was later found to have four fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a lacerated spleen.
Now at home, having left hospital on Sunday, Petracca is recovering from surgery.
“I don’t think we all understood the severity of it, to be honest. I think we got an initial scan around 8pm, 9pm. The first scan showed two cracked ribs, and then just a little bit of bleeding around the lung,” Petracca told Nova radio station.
“I don’t know what happened. I think 15 minutes later one of the doctors was just checking my blood levels and noticed my haemoglobin was dropping severely, and my blood levels were dropping. So I [had] another scan, and that’s when they noticed on the next scan I had four cracked ribs, a grade-five spleen [laceration] and a punctured lung, too.
“It went from being a four out of 10, to basically a 10 out of 10 – equivalent to a car accident. It seemed pretty full on. I had to go straight into surgery at 2am; open surgery. I wasn’t under anaesthetic because my blood levels were so low.”
Petracca said he knew immediately that Moore’s knee had caused damage.
“I knew he had hit me good, to be honest. I didn’t realise the severity of it until 2am when I was gassed up, and they were doing surgery with my eyes open,” he said.
“I didn’t realise the severity of it until early in the morning on Tuesday morning. I just thought it was a couple of cracked ribs, which, obviously, is serious. [But] I thought I could go back out and play.”
Petracca said the adrenaline rush from being a competitor was why he had initially returned to the field after being cleared by the Demons’ doctors.
“It was pretty full on. The adrenaline as well, I don’t think people understand when you are out there playing, you just want to go out and compete. You’re an athlete, you’re a competitor, you just want to do whatever you can,” he said.
“I have been in a similar situation a couple of years ago when I fractured my leg in the first quarter and did the same thing. I just went out and played the next three quarters, because you are on adrenaline, you don’t really know what’s going on. Had I known now the severity of it, I obviously wouldn’t have gone back out there.”
Petracca said he held no grudge against Moore, who has been in touch with his long-time friend.
“No malice in it whatsoever. Darcy and I have probably known each other since we were 11 or 12. We played some under-12s state together and stuff. He has messaged me four or five times, saying: ‘I owe you dinner.’ So I said I will take you up on that – that will be nice.”
Demons medical staff have been questioned as to why Petracca was allowed to return to the field, but the AFL, having conducted an investigation on Tuesday, found that the correct protocols were followed.
AFL executive operations manager Laura Kane said on Saturday that while “clubs are always trying to get better”, the Demons’ “process was OK”.
“The clinical assessment by the doctors was standard,” Kane said.
Petracca said he was unable to leave his house, and was being nursed by his wife, Bella.
“I am literally not allowed to do anything. Effectively, the spleen is a vital part of the immune system, so I have to get all my vaccinations done again. I am basically in isolation for five days because if I touch the outside world, pretty much anyone who is sick can really affect me. So Bella has had to do everything, put me to bed, put my socks on, give me all my medications, cook my dinner,” Petracca, a budding chef, said.
The champion midfielder admitted that the mental scars from his injuries meant he could barely watch any games at the weekend. He said he had doubts about returning to the football field, but expected time to ease his mind.
Petracca posted this image to social media during his stay in hospital.Credit: Instagram
“Bloody oath, at the moment, yeah, it’s still raw for me. It’s still just seven days. I watched a little bit of footy at the weekend. I had to turn it off. When you see just even a simple tackle, you put yourself back in the situation that you were,” Petracca said.
“Of course, at the moment, it’s quite raw but no doubt with the recovery process and everything that I will be able to tick off, my mindset, I’ll be able to get back to the player I was. Just, at the moment, a lot of self-doubt, which is fine, that’s a natural feeling.”
Petracca said he could not run or go to the gym for seven weeks, and was barred from contact sport for three months, meaning there was next to no time to return for the finals, should the Demons be alive come September. He cannot fly for six weeks.
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