AFL content creator and reality TV star Connor Rogers has revealed how happy he is after having ten surgeries and receiving news that his right leg might have to be amputated.
Six weeks ago the 27-year-old social media sensation was caught in a sickening tackle while playing in a division-five thirds game of local footy.
‘I got tackled from behind as I was having a quick snap a goal, and it was one where my leg got caught in the deck, and it was like it was going in slow motion,’ Rogers told 7NEWS.com.au.
‘I knew straight away as I was getting tackled that my leg was in a bad position and I was in strife.’
After the adrenalin wore off, Rogers says the shock kicked in and he stopped being able to feel his foot and could barely even speak.
‘And then the ambulance rocked up, gave me the green whistle, and that was the last thing I remember before waking up after surgery,’ he said.
Connor Rogers says he feels lucky after having ten surgeries and receiving news that his right leg might have to be amputated
Six weeks ago the 27-year-old was caught in a sickening tackle while playing in a division-five thirds game of local footy
‘So, that was about one o’clock when they wheeled me away in the ambulance, and I woke up at somewhere between midnight and 1am.
‘Actually, the one memory I have in that time was the doctor coming to me in the emergency waiting room, feeling my foot and going: “There’s no pulse, this is a potentially life-threatening injury, get him in for surgery now”.
Rogers knew he had injured his knee badly, but had no idea to what extent.
‘They told me you have torn the ACL and the PCL and MCL and LCL and all these different letter combinations – letters I’d never even heard of – and you have dislocated the knee, but you cut off all blood circulation to your foot and your calf,’ Rogers said.
‘The first thing they did was cut a vein out the length of my left leg, transplant into my right leg, and they hadn’t even popped the knee back in yet.
‘I woke up and my knee was still dislocated, and they said the first surgery they had to do was just get the blood flow back. After the blood was flowing, they popped the knee back in.
‘And then 10 surgeries went by of them trying to save my calf. They were going in each time, cutting away the muscle that died time after time. Essentially, they’ve cut out a fair bit of the calf that’s responsible for moving your foot up and down, all around, moving your ankle.
‘For the first couple of weeks, they were saying amputation was pretty much likely, because if you have no use of your foot and your lower leg, there’s no point in keeping it, you’re just going to have a wonky leg.
He tore his ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL – but also cut off blood supply to his foot and calf
Doctors told him he might lose his leg, but the social media star says he’s in good spirits
Rogers says he’s the ‘wealthiest bloke ever’ because of the friends he has around him who are supporting him
‘They have got the blood circulating back to the foot now and I can move my toes a little bit, and nerves grow back at less than one millimetre a day, so they’re hoping that in a year’s time when the nerves grow back a bit, hopefully I’ve got enough function to be able to walk around, so they think that there’s enough reason to try and keep it.
‘But if we fast forward six months and the nerves hadn’t quite grown back, then we’ll have to have a look at getting rid of the leg then and getting a prosthetic in.
‘The way I’m looking at it is, as long as I still have my quality of life, I’m not too bothered, mate.
‘I’d rather have a prosthetic in where I can still climb up the steps of the MCG, rather than have a wonky leg and you’re limping around anywhere. We’re in good spirits, mate, which is the important thing.’
Rogers has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but says he feels lucky to be in the position he’s in.
‘I had this realisation where I was like, “I don’t have a thing to worry about, because I have more love and support and friendships around me than I could possibly ever wish for”,’ he said.
‘I’m the wealthiest bloke ever in like the most valuable resource you could possibly have, which is really good friendships and connections with really good people that are there to help you.
‘After that realisation, I stopped all the worry about what might happen with my leg. It just went away and I was just really looking forward to getting the best possible outcome I could to repay the support that everyone had given to me.’
