Former North Melbourne Kangaroos player Majak Daw has opened up about his heartbreaking suicide attempt and revealed the moment he decided he wanted to live.
Daw attempted to take his own life in December 2018 by climbing a safety fence and jumping off the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne after taking the sleeping medication Stilnox, which is notorious for its side effects.
He plummeted 30 metres into the Yarra River and suffered serious fractures to his hips and pelvis.
The 35-year-old has now gone into detail about the exact moment he snapped out of his downward spiral.
‘When I jumped off the bridge, I think I was like 40 metres deep,’ Daw, now 35, told the Dos and D podcast.
‘I started… because it was so far [underwater] drinking – like, swallowing water. And I was like, “Nah, no way. I want to live.”
Majak Daw (pictured) has gone into harrowing detail about the moment he decided to fight back from the brink during his 2018 suicide attempt
Daw (pictured) was forced to undergo complex surgeries as a result of the injuries he suffered
The 35-year-old (pictured) has been open about his mental health battle since leaving the AFL
Daw (pictured with former partner Emily McKay)
‘I regretted it straight away … I tried to grab the rail and it was just too late.
‘I was wearing these Asics runners and I was asking my partner at the time, “Where are my shoes?” They’re like, “Did you forget? They’re stuck in the bottom of the mud in the Yarra River.”‘
Incredibly, Daw was able to swim to the banks of the river despite the immense pain from the fractures he sustained.
‘I literally just made it to the shore and then I could not remember after that,’ he said.
The AFL’s first Sudanese-born player had to undergo complex reconstructive surgeries as he recovered.
‘My hips were clamped for a week, just to keep them together,’ he said.
‘These titanium rods, we had to wait three days to get them from Israel. I’ve got huge titanium rods from my hips, two of them.
‘They [the doctors] were going to put a huge piece of metal in my back, and if they did that, I wouldn’t be able to walk.’
Despite the harrowing experience, the former North Melbourne star was able to eventually make a comeback to the game after a two-year hiatus.
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