Jack Higgins [merged]

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Benny Gale on 3aw just now said Higgo will have his surgery and then rest. They asked if Higgo's footy future is at risk and Benny replied Higgo is expected to make a full recovery.

This sort of surgery can be life threatening. One tiny complication can destroy his career. We wish him all the best.

[one-eyed]

Benny Gale on 3aw just now said Higgo will have his surgery and then rest. They asked if Higgo's footy future is at risk and Benny replied Higgo is expected to make a full recovery.

This sort of surgery can be life threatening. One tiny complication can destroy his career. We wish him all the best.

To be fair to Benny, he did say there's always risks involved with this (re: surgery). If all goes well then Higgo is expected to make a full recovery.

[one-eyed]

Prestia on the Sunday Footy Show said Higgo caught up with the boys last Thursday and he will be having his surgery this Wednesday.

[one-eyed]

Emerging star Jack Higgins has been ruled out for the remainder of this year’s campaign after suffering bleeding on his brain earlier this year.

Houli said the 20-year-old was recovering well.

“It’s better than expected,” Houli said.

“Initially there was going to be a serious surgery but I think, through a bit of research, it’s come out a little bit better.

“He’ll miss the rest of this season but our heart and thoughts go with him and his family.

“It’s a very tough time.

“He came into the club two or three days ago. He was upbeat and it’s good to see him up and about.”

Source: Ch 7 & West Australian

[Diocletian]

Has to have another op....will be out for most of next year as well...

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-09-04/barrett-jack-higgins-update

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Sounds like he had a coiling procedure which would have avoided a craniotomy. Now he needs the proper open surgery which would involve a much bigger period off....

Good luck Jack.

[Tigeritis™©®]

In English please YBB

[Damo]

In English please YBB

https://youtu.be/_jl4iL6hCqs

[YellowandBlackBlood]

Lol. I'll dumb it down a shade then.....

The first procedure may have been done in Radiology by going up an artery from the groin and navigating a catheter up to the problem area in the brain. Once there the radiologist would have deployed these little coils to block off the abnormal vessels causing the problem. However there are many of them and they may not have got a satisfactory result. Now they have to open the head and go in and physically clip off the remaining abnormal vessels. It's a much bigger procedure and your skull has to heal up. More dangerous too.

I'm not sure if that's what has happened but it sounds like it.

[Simonator]

Very unfortunate for the young man. Spent his life Dedicating all his time to footy so hopefully he can make it back

[Rampsation]

Good luck to the young man but this isnt looking great. He will miss alot of football and that in itself will inhibit his development as a player.

[sdc01]

may God bless him and his fam....he is nothing if not a determined little bugger...he'll be back!!

[mightytiges]

While footy has been his life, right now we've got to hope the surgery goes well so Higgo can live a long normal life. That's more important than playing footy. All the best wishes, Higgo.

[one-eyed]

Tigers rallying around Higgins: Riewoldt

Jon Pierik
The Age
September 5, 2019

Jack Riewoldt says Richmond is rallying around teammate Jack Higgins, as the young Tiger prepares for brain surgery later this month.

Higgins, an exciting small forward, has not played since July because a brain bleed related to an abnormality he has had since birth. This is not related to concussion or a head knock.

The Tigers had hoped less invasive treatment would have eased the problem but doctors have now opted for more surgery.

As the Tigers prepare for Saturday night's qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions, Riewoldt said Higgins' enthusiasm had been missed.

"The club has been reaching out to him. We have to keep our contact to a minimum, just because he is a pretty excitable, character, Jack. If you get around him too much, the blood pressure goes up," he said on Thursday.

"It's a really trying time for him and his family. And he is such a great young man, such a great character of this football club and this industry and this game. He has been sorely missed. We have missed him around the change rooms. We miss his enthusiasm but, at the moment, we are, obviously, rallying around him, as the whole football community is."

The Tigers are rallying around Jack Higgins, who will have more brain surgery.Credit:Eddie Jim

Higgins, 20, had been admitted to hospital earlier this year complaining of headaches. He has not played since, and will require six months on the sidelines after surgery.

The Tigers expect that he will be able to resume playing late next season.

"It is a pretty serious procedure he has got to have. We were hopeful that first procedure would be the one that would see him through the line but, unfortunately, it's not that way," Riewoldt said.

"But, as we see with a lot of trauma and tragedies that happen in AFL football, there is no better place to be around, than a football club and a football industry because the amount of support he will receive going forward will be second to none. No doubt, every player in this football club will be leading that charge."

Higgins was taken with the No.17 pick in the 2017 national draft. He played in 20 matches last season, including both finals. He played in the opening 13 matches this season, his pressure and intensity inside attacking 50 a major threat for opponents.

He took to social media this week to reveal the "pretty bad news" that his brain "is still bleeding after the first surgery".

"However, I will be back in action in 2020," Higgins wrote.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-rallying-around-higgins-riewoldt-20190905-p52o6t.html

[one-eyed]

From Barrett's 'Sliding Doors' column:


IF ... you take your mind back to this time last year, Jack Higgins was about to be officially awarded the Coates Hire Goal of the Year in his debut season, where upon acceptance he would make his beautifully innocent, nervous-in-the-moment "my heart's pumping a thousand minutes per second" comment ...

THEN ... bring yourself back to the now, where Higgins is booked for serious brain surgery and faces an uncertain life and football path beyond that … and a game of football, albeit a qualifying final, against Brisbane at the Gabba just isn't that important.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-09-06/sliding-doors-finals-week-one