When Sam Martyn’s left arm started growing rapidly in size in May this year, the lean-bodied rookie figured it was his rigorous weights program starting to take effect.

Physically, Martyn felt fine.

He was able to play the next two matches for the Woodville-West Torrens reserves, but was referred to a specialist when the limb had more than doubled its original size.

Extensive scans revealed the 19-year-old had a potentially serious blood clot at the base of his neck.

“My arm just blew up when I was in weights one day,” Martyn told afc.com.au.

“I had no idea what it was at the time.

“I thought I was just getting bigger and stronger, but the boys said, ‘No, mate. Your left arm is twice the size of your right arm’.

“I played the next two weeks because we weren’t quite sure what was causing the swelling … but my arm just kept getting bigger.

“I said to the doctor, ‘something is wrong here’.

“He agreed and sent me off for a scan with a vascular specialist.

“The specialist found a blood clot just under my collarbone.

“I’d had other scans, which had checked my arteries, but the clot was actually in one of the veins.”

Martyn was admitted to hospital and booked in for surgery to remove his first rib and the surrounding tissue to create a passage to allow the clot to pass through his body.

The former NWS Scholarship holder spent five days in hospital and was placed on blood-thinning medication, which ruled him out of any physical activity for three months and put an end to his promising season.

“Mum was pretty worried. She came over to Adelaide from Merimbula while I was in hospital, which was good,” he said.

“I spent three months on the sidelines doing nothing with the exception of a few light weights later in the piece.

“I couldn’t do anything that involved physical contact because you bruise and bleed easily on the blood thinners.”

Martyn was cleared to participate in full-contact drills on day one of pre-season training.

His left arm is still ‘pretty big’ and bruised, but hasn’t impacted his lifestyle or training.

“The specialists say that’s normal and that the swelling will just subside with time,” Martyn said.

“It feels heavy at times, but other than that it’s good.”

Ironically, Martyn’s best performance of his first year at West Lakes came during the two-week period he played with a gargantuan arm.

The former distance runner and soccer player, who only took up Australian Football after being spotted by a talent scout at age 15, impressed the Crows coaches with his rapid progress in 2011.

“I was pretty happy with my progress because I was coming from a long way back,” he said.

“I started to pick things up and read the play better, which is probably my main area of focus.

“My skills are also developing. I wasn’t a great kick when I got here, but I’m slowly getting there.

“There’s also a lot more time for development this pre-season.

“I’ve been doing a lot of extras, a lot of kicking, ground-ball work and all the little components that make you into a good player.

“I feel as though I’ve improved in leaps and bounds from where I was a year ago.”

Martyn has set about adding to his frame in a safer and more conventional way this pre-season.

The aspiring midfielder has put on 8kg since joining Adelaide full-time at the end of last year (he now weighs a respectable 78kg) and is trying to find a balance between gaining muscle and maintaining his elite-level fitness.

“I’m nowhere near as fit as I was when I was training specifically for running, but I’m still pretty fit,” Martyn said.

“When I was 16 I gave the 3km-time-trial record here a bit of a nudge, but since we’ve started doing five-minute runs instead I haven’t been as successful which is a bit of a shame, but I’ll get there.”

In his second year on the Crows’ rookie list, Martyn recently moved out of his host family and in with teammate Patrick Dangerfield and rookie draft-hopeful Will Young.

Martyn said he was learning important life skills under Dangerfield’s household regime.

“I’m one of Patty’s soldiers now,” he said with a laugh.

“He loves everything to be neat and tidy, so he’s training me well.

“I’d never scrubbed a toilet in my life until last week.

“I’d also never cooked a meal, so I’ve been learning to cook.

“We’ve got a roster for cooking.

“Tom Lynch is living with us at the moment as well, so we take turns cooking once a week.

“If there’s still a couple of days left over Patty will do the rest.

“He likes to be organised.

“He’s a legend to live with and always good for a chat about whatever’s on your mind.”