{"id":1950,"date":"2013-07-09T08:42:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T22:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/?p=1950"},"modified":"2013-07-09T08:42:23","modified_gmt":"2013-07-08T22:42:23","slug":"help-support-casey-tutungi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/oa\/melbourne-people\/help-support-casey-tutungi","title":{"rendered":"Help &#038; Support Casey Tutungi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fomer Geelong VFL player Casey Tutungi will never be able to walk or use his arms again after a freak on-field accident in a local football match, his family have confirmed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/casey-tutungi.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[1950]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1951\" alt=\"casey-tutungi\" src=\"http:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/casey-tutungi-201x300.jpg\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/oa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/casey-tutungi-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/oa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/casey-tutungi.jpg 255w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a>Casey Tutungi, 27, remained in the Austin Hospital last night as his family broke the news.<\/p>\n<p>The 27-year-old injured his spine during a rare on-field accident against St Joseph&#8217;s in June 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Tutungi&#8217;s father Chris said the life of his son \u2013 who is expecting his first child with his fiance Bridget in November \u2013 was permanently changed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The medical staff at the hospital gave us the prognosis no parent of an active, strong, vital 27-year-old wants to hear,&#8221; Mr Tutungi said with his wife Carol in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Tutungi, who is in the Austin Hospital, fractured and dislocated his C4 and C5 vertebrae, which had compressed his spinal cord and caused swelling.<\/p>\n<p>He injured his spine during an on-field collision with an opposition player in the last minutes of the game, reportedly flopping backwards to the ground and screaming that he could not feel anything.<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;Casey loves football. Ever since he pulled on his first pair of boots for the Lorne Football Club as a junior, he has lived for the game,&#8221; the Tutungi family said.<\/p>\n<p>Although such injuries are rare in Australian rules football, several have happened in recent decades.<\/p>\n<p>In July last year, country South Australian footballer Trent Rothall fractured his C4 and C5 vertebrae during an on-field accident.<\/p>\n<p>After being confirmed a quadriplegic, the 21-year-old Kingston player has reportedly regained some movement in both his arms.<\/p>\n<p>Rothall&#8217;s accident came weeks after Gippsland footballer Beau Vernon suffered a similar injury.<\/p>\n<p>The 2011 best-and-fairest for Leongatha Parrots was left with C5-C6 quadriplegia after an onfield clash against Wonthaggi.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his injury, the 23-year-old is determined to live a normal life. &#8220;The support I have received from family, friends and even people I haven&#8217;t met has been unbelievable,&#8221; Vernon wrote on his website.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just want to show you all what you have helped me achieve and that I&#8217;m going to live a normal and happy life, even if it is in a chair.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In 1975, former Footscray footballer Neil Sachse was left a quadriplegic after an accidental collision with Fitzroy player, Kevin O&#8217;Keeffe.<\/p>\n<p>Tutungi&#8217;s family has set up a trust to help pay for medical equipment. Anyone wishing to donate can visit caseytutungi.com or visit any branch of the Bendigo Bank and donate to the Casey Tutungi Future Fund.<\/p>\n<h2>How To Help<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Donate! See below..<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 13px;\">Read More at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.caseytutungi.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.caseytutungi.com<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Casey Tutungi Future Fund<\/h2>\n<p>All funds will assist in providing Casey with the essential equipment he will require. All donations will be held in a Bendigo Bank Trust Account.<br \/>\nDonations can be paid directly into the Bendigo Bank Trust account:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Casey Tutungi Future Fund<\/strong><br \/>\nBSB: 633 000<br \/>\nAccount: 149 834 533<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fomer Geelong VFL player Casey Tutungi will never be able to walk or use his arms again after a freak on-field accident in a local football match, his family have confirmed. Casey Tutungi, 27, remained in the Austin Hospital last night as his family broke the news. The 27-year-old injured his spine during a rare [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":1952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3908,3982,3909,3907],"class_list":["post-1950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne-people","tag-footballer","tag-geelong","tag-quadriplegic","tag-support","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Help &amp; Support Casey Tutungi - onlyAUSTRALIA &amp; NZ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onlyaustralia.com.au\/melbourne-people\/help-support-casey-tutungi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Help &amp; Support Casey Tutungi - onlyAUSTRALIA &amp; NZ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fomer Geelong VFL player Casey Tutungi will never be able to walk or use his arms again after a freak on-field accident in a local football match, his family have confirmed. 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