First year player Jarrad Grant is recovering at home following an eventful recovery session at Port Melbourne beach this morning.
Grant was participating in the recovery session along with other members of the Development Group when he was stung by a stingray in the shallow water.
He initially thought he had been nipped by a crab however upon leaving the water noticed that he was bleeding on his left ankle and began to feel unwell.
One of his teammates called an ambulance and Grant was treated at the scene before being taken to the Alfred Hospital.
Grant was released at 10.30am by the hospital and doctors were satisfied he was ok.
Senior Registrar Ben McKenzie said Grant was coping well with the injury. “We gave him medication for the pain and antibiotics for the wound, however he is a tough lad so he will be fine,” he said.
Western Bulldogs Development Manager, Brad Gotch, said the youngster was disappointed to be involved in such an incident on the day of his first potential game in the AFL.
“He had been named in the squad for tonight’s match however several of the other players trained well yesterday so he was advised that he wasn’t likely to play. Even so it’s disappointing for him to now also miss the Williamstown practice match on Saturday,” he said.
Grant said he was surprised by the stingray attack as it had still been quite dark at the time and he didn’t see the stingray.
“One of the other guys said to me they saw it swim off so that was when I realised it might be more serious than I had previously thought. When I saw that I was bleeding I was worried about the poison getting into my body,” he said.
Drafted by the Bulldogs in October last year, Grant was recruited from TAC club the Dandenong Stingrays.
“It is rather ironic that I got stung I guess,” he smiled. “It will be a great story to tell my mates later.”
