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GWS Giants co-captain Phil Davis isn’t sure if he will resume playing this AFL season after his kidney injury.
Davis 23, spent 13 days in Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital and underwent two lots of surgery after getting hurt in the Giants season opener against Sydney on March 15.
Returning to the Giants offices on Monday, Davis said he would definitely play again.
The gutsy defender, who contained Sydney spearhead Lance Franklin to just tone goal was hurt early in the match and initially thought he had broken a rib.
He was on his way to a post-match recovery session when he felt faint and nauseous and was taken to hospital, where he spent his first eight days in intensive care.
“It was a bit scary because the specialist said it’s up there with the worst kidney damage he’s ever seen, worse than car crashes,” Davis said on Monday.
He said his condition wasn’t life threatening unless there had been complications, but the thought he might not play again had crossed his mind after it looked like he might lose the kidney..
“If I had lost a kidney it would have been a serious process and I would have had to think if I wanted to play again,” Davis said.
“But I had people around me that were telling me constantly to be positive and I tries not to think about it.”
Davis said he was inspired by the case of Geelong’s Tom Lonergan who resumed his AFL career after losing a kidney.and plans to speak to him in the next few days.
He said he would resume most fitness activities within a fortnight.
“I should be running, doing weights swimming, basically a pre-season but no physical contact,” Davis said.
“In Australia there hasn’t been a lot of incidents (involving sportsmen and women) like this.
“We had Tom Lonergan who lost his kidney, Nick Maxwell, who had just some serious busing but we don’t have much information.
‘We’re going to have to call some people in America, The NFL in particular have got a lot of research on this.
“Our physios have already spoken to Collingwood about Nick Maxwell’s experience, they will talk to Geelong, we’ll talk to America and hopefully have a plan we can run past a specialists.
“From there I’ve got no idea in terms of my recovery and when it will be
‘I’m hoping to play this again this year, but i know my health is paramount.”
Davis had help understanding his condition from his mother who is a doctor and from his girlfriend, who is a fifth-year medical student.
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