How headaches led higgins to shock brain find

The West Australian Richmond youngster Jack Higgins has described the moment he woke to find five doctors surrounding him, telling him he may never walk again. Higgins underwent two rounds

of brain surgery in 2019 after complaining of headaches post-game. The 20-year-old quickly realised just how serious those headaches were when he underwent an MRI. “One time after a match I

just felt really bad and couldn’t drive home at night and felt absolutely terrible,” he recalled. Without sleep for 48 hours, Higgins was sent for scans where his world changed in an

instant. “Five docs said ‘We need to get you to hospital ASAP, we need to get something out of your brain’,” he said. “I cried a bit when I heard the news, it was really disappointing and

really scary when the neurosurgeon told me there was a lot of risks with the surgery. If he touches the wrong thing I I could be paralysed, never player footy again or even worse, I could

die.” After the first round of surgery, Higgins says he struggled to read, watch TV or complete simple tasks. So the talented star underwent a second round of surgery. “I had an unbelievable

neurosurgeon and they cut my head open (with a) massive scar and (I spent) two weeks in hospital,” he said. “At the time, there were some pretty bad things going through my head and I

thought I would never play footy again, probably thought I’d never be able to walk again and have to have a carer for the rest of my life. “It was a very tough time of my life.” Three months

after that second round of surgery, Higgins is back on the training track and happy to be back with his Tiger teammates. “So to be out there training after I had the surgery about three

months ago when I could hardly walk, hardly eat, hurt when I opened and closed my mouth, it’s pretty crazy,” he said. “I’m just happy to be here. Hopefully she’ll be right.” Higgins has been

wearing a protective helmet during those training sessions and revealed it will likely feature in the 2020 season. “Wearing a helmet is a bit weird as it gets hot in there,” he said. “I

don’t know if I’ll wear it in matches, the doctor sort of wants me to so I probably will if he says. If he say no, it’ll be the first thing that comes off,” he joked. GET THE LATEST NEWS

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