NOT LONG after being named best on ground in Norwood's SANFL Grand Final win, former Western Bulldog and current draft hopeful Matthew Panos checked himself into a Thai hospital with suspected food poisoning.
The doctor's verdict shocked the 23-year-old; Panos was diagnosed with dengue fever, a serious tropical viral disease spread by mosquitos.
Panos was holidaying in Ko Samui with his girlfriend as a reward for a successful season during which he transformed himself from the key forward delisted by the Bulldogs into one of the SANFL's best big-bodied midfielders.
Although over the worst of the illness, Panos told AFL.com.au that during the first few weeks after his diagnosis he suffered symptoms ranging from headaches, abdominal pain and blurred vision to vomiting and diarrhoea.
"I wasn't feeling well for a couple of days, thought it was food poisoning but it was getting worse so I thought I had better go to hospital," Panos said.
"It was a lot worse than food poisoning… the doctor was pretty concerned and it shocked me a little bit with the things he was saying.
"He advised us not to fly – we were due to fly home in three days – because my platelet levels were too low.
"I was lucky that it didn't last as long as it could have."
While the infection has come at an unfortunate time for Panos – it rendered him unable to test at the recent state screening – his status as a draft hopeful has also worked in his favour.
His fitness level and overall health has limited the impact of the fever, which can produce debilitating symptoms.
Panos is already back training and hopes to undergo much of the testing he missed at the state screening prior to the draft on November 27.
"I've been to the doctor quite a bit since being in Australia and they've all said the same thing: you just need to build into training slowly because it's probably the worst thing to go too hard, too early," he said.
"I'm quite active and healthy and in the past my immune system's been pretty good so they think that definitely helped.
"I'm beginning to run and do some bike sessions, I've started going to go to the gym with a few other Norwood boys to work on speed, power and agility.
"So the plan's to build slowly and then hopefully by mid-November I can do a beep test and a few of the other tests and send the results to AFL clubs."
As well as his Jack Oatey Medal as best afield in the Grand Final, Panos finished sixth in the Magarey Medal and runner-up by two votes in Norwood's best and fairest.
He hoped it would be enough to convince prospective suitors he's worthy of a second chance at the elite level.
"I think that my year, how I played and transformed my game should probably speak for a lot more than getting sick in the off-season," he said.
"Hopefully AFL clubs see it that way."
