Carlton skipper Sam Docherty has opened up on the Covid concerns he – and so many others – had coming out of hospital after undergoing intense treatment.
Docherty’s Blues take on North Melbourne this round in the Good Friday SuperClash, with the clubs and the AFL to help raise awareness and funds for the Good Friday Royal Children’s Hospital appeal.
Docherty’s own battle with cancer has given him a greater appreciation of the cause both clubs were supporting.
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The Blues defender in November 2020 was diagnosed with stage 2 testicular cancer. After surgery, Docherty made a remarkable return to the field in 2021 before a second cancer diagnosis was revealed in August. He was diagnosed then with stage 3 cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs and stomach, leading to a 12-week chemotherapy course.
Docherty, as well as other Carlton and North Melbourne players, have been doing hospital visits in the lead-up to Friday’s game.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Tuesday night, Docherty said he found it “tough” doing hospital visits due to his own health scare experience.
But the Blues veteran said it was a significant privilege to bring joy to a child and their family.
“I find going to the Royal Children’s one of the tougher ones to do, more from your own personal bias … Now having a child myself puts an extra layer on it,” Docherty told AFL 360.
“I went there (on Monday) and there was a little girl that was in there and she’d been in there for 10 months. She found out on day 10 of her life that she had leukaemia, so their whole lived experience with their child has been in hospital.
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“You look at it both ways and you just understand how much great work that the Royal Children’s actually does and you get a great perspective about what we’re actually doing and what Friday actually means to a really wide range of people, especially the people that are in there. I think shining a light on the great work the hospital does, but bringing a sense of joy to the families – as hard as it is to go, it’s one of my favourite things to do.
“Sometimes it’s not about the kid, it’s actually about the family. It’s about the mum and the dad that are sitting in the seat beside them that are watching their child go through something pretty tough. Essentially you’re bringing a smile onto their child’s face, but a living memory that they get to take back home and wherever that brings great joy to their whole family.”
Docherty said he spent around 30 days in hospital last year as he underwent chemotherapy, which “in the grand scheme of things is probably nowhere near what some of the guys are doing in the Royal Children’s at the moment”.
“They’re tough places to be. Anyone that’s been hospital, as much as you try and talk yourself into the food being any good, the food’s rough, you’re staring at the four walls but you don’t want to leave,” he said.
“We were just coming out of Covid years, I was terrified coming out of hospital going back into the world knowing that my immune system was low and the risk that had on me if I was in contact with Covid. All those families have had that fear for the last three or four years where they’ve obviously got their child that’s going through a really tough time, but then if they get some chances to go outside, they’ve also got Covid (concerns). If an immunocompromised child gets Covid, that could have been the end.
“If I bring it back to just footy and Good Friday and what we get to do this week, it’s a great privilege that us as Carlton and the Kangas get to play on Friday and represent that whole organisation and all the great work that they do.”
