AFL legend Gary Ablett senior is suing the league, plus his two clubs Geelong and Hawthorn, in the Supreme Court over concussions which he alleges have left him with brain damage.
In the latest incident of a past player taking legal action, the AFL must now deal with one of the greatest players in football history claiming a breach of duty and negligence.
Ablett, 61, revealed earlier this year he has brain damage earlier and his lawyer Michel Margalit told the Nine papers it was “clearly as a result of physical trauma caused by concussion”.
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He is now unable to work nor pay for his medical bills because of his “degenerative condition”.
“One of the biggest challenges for Gary is he very much is left without the means and ability to fund the care he now requires, given his condition,” Margalit said.
“This is really why he’s been forced, in a sense, to bring the claim; to be able to afford both the medical expenses and medical care he requires … and those costs will only continue to increase.
“He really struggles on a daily basis, and it is very typical symptomatology you see from players, or athletes, who suffer these concussion-related injuries around the world.
“There is everything from memory loss to being unable to work and many other symptoms.”
Ablett’s legal team will argue it was “reasonably foreseeable” for the AFL, Hawks and Cats that he was “vulnerable to the injury of concussion caused by head strikes while playing AFL football”.
Ablett told the Herald Sun recently: “I told him of my concerns and Peter (Jess, his former manager) helped organise an MEG scan that American Military use. It showed I have significant structural and functional brain damage.
“I’ve since been seeing a psychiatrist named Dr John Perica once a month and receiving some new medical treatment that’s been helping reduce the headaches and improving my mood.
“I began getting headaches and pressure in the top of my skull around 2010, initially a few days a week.
“It then led to depression, anxiety and extreme fatigue. Under the advice of doctors, I then had numerous scans to try and find the cause of headaches and skull pressure.
“From 2015 onwards, and almost every day, there were signs that things had changed, then about 12 months ago I started getting symptoms that alarmed me to the point where I contacted Peter Jess, whom I’m aware has been a concussion advocate for a number of past players.”
Primarily playing for the Cats, Ablett senior kicked 1031 goals across 248 VFL-AFL games.
