MIDFIELDER Dylan Herbertson will be forced to watch Hawkesdale-Macarthur play in a crunch final on Sunday knowing he won’t play football again.
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Herbertson’s last appearance for the Eagles was life-changing — he lost 60 per cent of his left kidney, required three bouts of surgery and was told he should hang up his football boots for good.
That was six weeks ago.
The onballer is now on the mend, recovering at his Warrnambool home, playing Xbox to pass the time.
Herbertson, 23, said the freak injury sparked a whirlwind fortnight which was “pretty scary”.
“I was playing against Caramut and went to hip- and-shoulder a guy and my own elbow went straight into my kidney and split it into three bits,” he said.
“I was winded so I went off the ground.”
He was still feeling ill a few minutes later and when he went to the toilet there was blood in his urine.
The father-of-one, who missed his daughter Layla’s first birthday party the following day, was driven to Warrnambool and then flown to Geelong for emergency surgery.
He also had a collapsed lung, forcing the helicopter to fly at low altitude.
Herbertson said his second surgery was on the Sunday “to block three arteries to the kidney”.
The following day the surgeons went to check everything else and “put a stent into the kidney to the bladder”.
A week later, he went for a check-up in Warrnambool.
“The doctor rang the surgery concerned about my health,” Herbertson said.
“I had a haematoma that was six centimetres (at first) and when they did the CT and ultrasound it was out to 27cm.
“That was a week from the operation and they rushed me back to Geelong on the Monday afternoon and did more scans. I stayed in for more observations.”
Herbertson, who will have the stent taken out next month, said the surgeon told him he was lucky he didn’t lose more blood or the consequences could have been dire.
He’d love to play football again but knows he must put his health first.
“I still have a kidney in there. There is 25 per cent to 30 per cent left in there,” he said.
“A lot of people only have one kidney and they are fine with it but it’ll just give my body time to adjust to having one and a bit.
“Six weeks on I feel like I can do a lot more.
“I was pretty much bed-ridden for the first two weeks but now I am out and about, back watching footy.
“I’d liked to stay involved in footy. It’s hard to just forget about it but it’s too risky to play.”
The 179-centimetre Herbertson said his weight fell off him after surgery.
He can’t remember being as light as he is now.
“I lost 14 kilograms in the two weeks I was in hospital,” he said.
“That’s the hard part, getting used to being this light compared to what I was.
“Beforehand I was 87kg and now I am 73kg.”
Herbertson is a plumber by trade.
He can’t lift heavy items again until at least November.
But he can now drive after being banned from being behind the wheel in the first month of his recovery, which he’s grateful for.
“I am sick of the Xbox,” Herbertson said.
“Luckily I have the Tiger Woods (game) to play.
“It’s just entertaining and it’s good to have a few boys come around and play.
“The support from the footy club has been great and from friends and family.
“These things you don’t think you can get through unless you have this support.”