Central Highlands’ football community is rallying around Dunnstown player Cameron Dunne after he suffered a severe spinal injury during a recent game.
Dunne, 20, was playing for the Towners’ reserves against Springbank on May 10 when he was knocked out in a fourth-quarter mishap and taken to hospital by ambulance.
Dunne remains in the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with doctors still unsure of the full extent of his injury.
Dunnstown secretary Sandra Mullane said doctors had told Dunne that if he had stretched his spinal cord another
2 millimetres it would have snapped and he would have been dead or a paraplegic.
“They have done a lot of scans and tests,’’ she said.
“He is still numb from the hips down. He can stand with help, but he can’t really get his legs moving.”
The club and football league have got behind Dunne, who lives in Ballan.
The CHFL donated all money raised from its raffle at Saturday’s interleague game to the player and his family, while the Towners will hold a fund-raiser including a silent auction on June 14.
“People can donate money and local businesses have started to donate items, vouchers and money for the auction,’’ Mullane said.
“There’s bit of [player’s] insurance, but that doesn’t cover much.
‘‘The costs of his family – travelling to Melbourne, parking and accommodation to stay in the city – adds up without even looking at the medical costs.”
To donate, visit www.bit.ly/1kgzKNg
