Brendan Fevola has revealed that he was forced to briefly stop playing footy at the height of his glittering career after he was diagnosed with shingles.
His father, Angelo, was also diagnosed with the condition in 2025, while he was battling rheumatoid arthritis.
The pair have now spoken out on the ‘excruciating’ illness, with Brendan revealing that the pain had once become so bad that he was forced to skip training sessions.
‘The pain, it was excruciating,’ Fevola explained during an interview with 7NEWS.
‘I think I’ve had like 22 operations and I’ve done knees and Achilles and shoulders and fingers, and this would have to be one of the worst pains I’ve felt.’
‘It didn’t allow me to train. I couldn’t do weights.
Footy great Brendan Fevola (right) and his dad, Angelo (left), have opened up on suffering from the ‘excruciating’ illness shingles
‘Obviously, being a footy player, it took away my ability to work.’
Shingles is a viral infection that can cause painful rashes on a person’s body.
The illness is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus. After a person contracts chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the person’s body until it is later reactivated. It can cause shingles if a person’s immune system is weakened.
Speaking to 7NEWS, Angelo revealed the agonising pain he suffered due to the illness.
‘It was shocking,’ Angelo said.
‘I was stuck to the bed, stuck to the sheet. It’s just not right.
‘If I knew about it quicker, I would have done something about it, but I didn’t.’
He urged others to get treated quickly if they were suffering from shingles symptoms, which can include a painful or tingling feeling in an area of skin, a rash, or a headache.
Fevola contracted the illness at the peak of his footy career, and revealed that the agonising illness left him unable to train
Fevola (pictured with partner Alex) stated that he had 22 operations on a variety of injuries, but none was more painful than contracting shingles
‘It was like a little scab on my back to start off with, I didn’t take any notice of it, I just put some cream on it,’ Angelo said.
‘A couple of days later, the scab just got greater and greater. I went to a pharmacy and we had a look at it and he [the pharmacist] said I think you should go straight to your GP.
‘[I] went straight to the GP, he had a look at it straight away, and he just said straight out: “You have got shingles”. I said to him straight out: “What is shingles?”‘
Brendan and Angelo have now become ambassadors for Shingles Action Week 2026 and hope that their stories can raise awareness about the illness.
A leading healthcare professional in the field, Professor Tony Cunningham, told the outlet that those seeing a rash should take action immediately to prevent further complications, which can include long-term nerve pain, infections and muscle weakness.
‘When you see the rash, you should go to your doctor immediately because you’ve got about three days for antiviral agents like Valtrex and Famvir to work and they will actually shut off the rash and the pain within 24-48 hours,’ Professor Cunningham said.
Vaccinations are also available in Australia and are free for people aged 65 and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and over and those who are above the age of 18 and are considered at risk.
Brendan, a two-time Coleman Medallist, enjoyed a glittering career between 1999 and 2010.
Brendan (pictured) and Angelo urged others to seek treatment if they developed shingles symptoms
He was recruited to Carlton during the 1998 AFL National Draft, and would go on to boot 575 goals across 187 appearances for the club.
The forward joined the Brisbane Lions in 2010, kicking 48 goals in just 17 matches, before retiring at the end of the season.
‘Watching loved ones go through some horrific pain that can be prevented — it’s not good,’ Brendan said.
Angelo added: ‘It nearly brings you down to tears.’
