Alex McKinnon possibly Quadriplegic - Mclean guilty of dangerous throw - 7 weeks

[magpie4ever]

You're the only one so far who thinks that advice is wrong. I wouldnt know if its wrong or not, but you'd think if you were even half right with all the press this is getting someone else would of said it.

Let's see what Melbourne's defence is.

 

[Hiekka]

Having myself suffered a major C3/C4 injury in a tackle, I have a real affinity for this situation. I was lucky enough to be able to walk out of North Shore hospital's spinal ward after major surgery and rehab and I'm praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Memo to NRL - PLEASE do the right thing and make tackles involving lifting beyond the horizontal an automatic send-off offence.

My thoughts are with you Alex.

 

[magpie4ever]

The advice they gave is actually medically sound. If you're being spear tackled, trying to avoid impact to the head and neck and divert it to the shoulders and back is about the best mitigation you can hope for as a player in that position.

The problem here is that though a spear tackle was initiated, it wasn't followed through on, so the instinctive attempt to get his head down lead to his neck basically being folded over when he hit the ground. What you appear to be missing here is that it was a response to being put into a dangerous position; if he hadn't been lifted into what looked like it was going to be a spear tackle, he wouldn't have tried to duck his head.

Regardless of this, it was still an illegal play and needs to be looked at. Honestly about the best thing that can come of this horrible situation is that a new set of expectations regarding lifting in tackles are developed, clearly communicated to players and coaches, and that they are enforced rigorously so we never see the like of it again.

I disagree as you are taking a punt you will be flipped. Still the experts will argue it out.

 

[magpie4ever]

Having myself suffered a major C3/C4 injury in a tackle, I have a real affinity for this situation. I was lucky enough to be able to walk out of North Shore hospital's spinal ward after major surgery and rehab and I'm praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Memo to NRL - PLEASE do the right thing and make tackles involving lifting beyond the horizontal an automatic send-off offence.

My thoughts are with you Alex.

Well said.

 

[ceagle]

Having myself suffered a major C3/C4 injury in a tackle, I have a real affinity for this situation. I was lucky enough to be able to walk out of North Shore hospital's spinal ward after major surgery and rehab and I'm praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Memo to NRL - PLEASE do the right thing and make tackles involving lifting beyond the horizontal an automatic send-off offence.

My thoughts are with you Alex.

Did you ever return to playing sport?

 

[Diesel]

Having myself suffered a major C3/C4 injury in a tackle, I have a real affinity for this situation. I was lucky enough to be able to walk out of North Shore hospital's spinal ward after major surgery and rehab and I'm praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Memo to NRL - PLEASE do the right thing and make tackles involving lifting beyond the horizontal an automatic send-off offence.

My thoughts are with you Alex.

Wow, that sounds pretty full on and something most, if not all of us hope to never experience.

I agree with the comment that anything over a horizontal lift should be a send off. It's amazing that no one since the 70's has been made a paraplegic in the game

 

[Nightward]

I disagree as you are taking a punt you will be flipped. Still the experts will argue it out.

If you are lifted past the horizontal, either you'll get fully speared or the tacklers will back off, realising they've made a dangerous play.

In the first case, tucking the head can avoid a lot of damage. In the second case, it won't matter because you'll be put down safely.

Better to play the odds and minimise the risk of serious damage.

The injury to McKinnon is an extreme outlier in terms of outcome from ducking the head. If the spear tackle he was in had been completed instead of being turned into a sort of driving slam, it would have been better for him to be taking the impact to the shoulders.

 

[magpie4ever]

If you are lifted past the horizontal, either you'll get fully speared or the tacklers will back off, realising they've made a dangerous play.

In the first case, tucking the head can avoid a lot of damage. In the second case, it won't matter because you'll be put down safely.

Better to play the odds and minimise the risk of serious damage.

The injury to McKinnon is an extreme outlier in terms of outcome from ducking the head. If the spear tackle he was in had been completed instead of being turned into a sort of driving slam, it would have been better for him to be taking the impact to the shoulders.

Sorry dude, but I disagree - the angle of the lift, the arm brace, I believe at worst it would have been a face full of grass.

As said, it is sickening for all concerned.

 

[stormbati]

Why is this thread still not locked? FMD

 

[Hiekka]

Did you ever return to playing sport?

No, that was it for contact sports. Specialist advice was to give it away - and that was good enough for me.

Praying that Alex's condition is only temporary and that he has full movement when the swelling subsides.

 

[Mr Angry]

Having myself suffered a major C3/C4 injury in a tackle, I have a real affinity for this situation. I was lucky enough to be able to walk out of North Shore hospital's spinal ward after major surgery and rehab and I'm praying that Alex will be able to do the same.

Memo to NRL - PLEASE do the right thing and make tackles involving lifting beyond the horizontal an automatic send-off offence.

My thoughts are with you Alex.

Also the entire family......

I got the dreaded phone call, no parent wants.

Sir your son has been involved a a serious vehicle accident, he is on his way to the hospital....

1am.

Get there, in intensive care.

Policeman explains... my boy was with friends, coming home from a party, sober driver, in back seat of a small car. They had to cut him out.

Hit by a bloke running from cops who had actually given up the chase due to high speed (They showed me the video). He spent a 2 years.

Point being my wife spent the next year going every day. I went most days.....as did my daughter.

The only time mum did not go is when my boy insisted I take her away, he felt guilty, so I did. Little Miss Angry was forced to go.

An injury of this sort throws any family into a form of chaos. His parents siblings thier lives change too.

Alex and his family lives are now different.

I can only hope Alex walks out

 

[PoWdErFiNgEr84]

Lifting in tackles has been around since 1908, I agree it should be penalised and changes to the rules should be made to take them out of the game. Some suggestions like rewarding the low tackle etc are great ideas.

But if Newcastle were advising their players to place their head on their chest, they were wrong and, therefore, at fault. I'm no expert at bio-mechanics but that advice was always going to end up with a serious injury.

So I assume you are not only a lawyer but also a spinal injury expert. Your legal argument would be laughed out of Court. You do realise the seat belts can injury people in car accidents. Your argument would be akin to the government being at fault for any injuries caused by seat belts because they legislating the wearing of them & not the person or persons who actually caused the car accident. Or another example would be airlines being at fault for any injuries caused to passengers whilst they are in the brace position.

 

[innsaneink]

I fractured C4 and C5 30 years ago diving into a river

The vertabrae is the only similarities in my case and McKinnons.....I had no cord damge, was moving my limbs straight away despite it feeling like Id been run over by a truck.....although the breathlessness was simalr, almost like being winded my chin hit my chest when i hit the sandbank which left a bruise for three weeks, almost bit the tip of my tongue off...being half tanked probably helped, dunno
Was in a hard plastic brace for 8 weeks....a bike accidentr a few years later smashed my right shoulder and collarbone.....im feeling the affects of both incidents now

I walked after fracturing the same two vertabrae mcKinnon did...hopefully he will too

 

[Springs]

Why is this thread still not locked? FMD

Agree. Lock the damn thing.

 

[Swarzey]

Why is this thread still not locked? FMD

Please, explain why this should be locked because I see no f**king reason not to.

 

[magpie4ever]

So I assume you are not only a lawyer but also a spinal injury expert. Your legal argument would be laughed out of Court. You do realise the seat belts can injury people in car accidents. Your argument would be akin to the government being at fault for any injuries caused by seat belts because they legislating the wearing of them & not the person or persons who actually caused the car accident. Or another example would be airlines being at fault for any injuries caused to passengers whilst they are in the brace position.

And you are, they are my opinions - that is all, which I'm entitled to have.

What about this analogy, your employer tells you that it is ok to take a certain action. That action leads to a workplace injury, you than find out the action that caused the injury was not ok. Who would be in the wrong, the employee, the action or the employer?

 

[Usain Bolt]

Why is this thread still not locked? FMD

Because we need to see more jimmies being rustled

 

[magpie4ever]

I fractured C4 and C5 30 years ago diving into a river

The vertabrae is the only similarities in my case and McKinnons.....I had no cord damge, was moving my limbs straight away despite it feeling like Id been run over by a truck.....although the breathlessness was simalr, almost like being winded my chin hit my chest when i hit the sandbank which left a bruise for three weeks, almost bit the tip of my tongue off...being half tanked probably helped, dunno
Was in a hard plastic brace for 8 weeks....a bike accidentr a few years later smashed my right shoulder and collarbone.....im feeling the affects of both incidents now

I walked after fracturing the same two vertabrae mcKinnon did...hopefully he will too

We all do, good to hear there is hope.

 

[Noname36]

Also the entire family......

I got the dreaded phone call, no parent wants.

Sir your son has been involved a a serious vehicle accident, he is on his way to the hospital....

1am.

Get there, in intensive care.

Policeman explains... my boy was with friends, coming home from a party, sober driver, in back seat of a small car. They had to cut him out.

Hit by a bloke running from cops who had actually given up the chase due to high speed (They showed me the video). He spent a 2 years.

Point being my wife spent the next year going every day. I went most days.....as did my daughter.

The only time mum did not go is when my boy insisted I take her away, he felt guilty, so I did. Little Miss Angry was forced to go.

An injury of this sort throws any family into a form of chaos. His parents siblings thier lives change too.

Alex and his family lives are now different.

I can only hope Alex walks out

Jeez mate, that sounds absolutely terrifying. My young bloke is only 8 but even then my heart was in my mouth when he stayed down during a game last year when he was bent back by a much bigger kid. Logically I knew he was fine but there was still a part of me that thought for a split second he wasn't gonna get up. After the incident with McKinnon my wife is extremely hesitant about letting our boy keep playing. Hearing your story though one thing is chilling: this kind of thing doesn't just happen in footy...unfortunately it can strike at any time.

 

[PoWdErFiNgEr84]

And you are, they are my opinions - that is all, which I'm entitled to have.

What about this analogy, your employer tells you that is ok to take a certain action. That action leads to a workplace injury, you than find out the action that caused the injury was not ok. Who would be in the wrong, the employee, the action or the employer?

Whose to say I am not a lawyer. Even if your opinion was some how proven by a court to be correct it would only be regarded as a contributing factor. It would not mitigate responsibility for the actions of the tackler in placing McKinnon in a dangerous position. For your opinion to be correct & the Knights to be the only ones to blame you would have to find an expert medical witness that could prove that the bending of the neck was the sole contributing factor in the injury. I highly doubt you would find a spinal expert who would disregard all other factors eg taking the weight of 3 footballers on the neck region, the tacklers driving a player into the ground in a horizontal position etc etc.