Sickening moment a footy player's neck SNAPS in horror high tackle with a rival player
- Mitch Rule, 25, narrowly avoided becoming a quadriplegic after a hard tackle
- Mr Rule wasn't aware of his broken neck after the tackle and walked off the field
- Now in a neck brace for months, his is unsure if he will continue to play football
- A GoFundMe set up on his behalf has raised more than $10,000
A 25-year-old footballer has snapped his neck in a sickening collision between himself and a rival player that almost left him a quadriplegic.
Mitch Rule fractured his C6 vertebrae while playing footy with his local team in Melbourne during a clash in late April.
He was forced to put football, his career and his teaching degree on hold.
Mr Rule will spend the next three to four months in a neck brace while he undergoes rehabilitation, he told local newspaper the Knox Leader.
Footage shows the footy player made contact with rival Mitch Jackson at top speed when he was picking a stray the ball off the ground.
Mr Rule was instantly knocked unconscious as distressed teammates started brawling with Jackson and his team.
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The footballer was not treated for a broken neck but was presumed to be suffering from a concussion, asking trainers to help him off the field.
It was only when his dad was driving him to Maroondah Hospital that he noticed pain in his neck and was forced to use his hands to hold his head in place.
The local footy player Mitch Rule said he will be taking the rest of the year off while he reconsiders if he will ever play football again
'That's when I started to think — I didn't think it was broken at that stage — I just thought I've hurt myself here and I need to be careful,' he was quoted telling the paper.
The footy player said he will be taking the rest of the year off while he reconsiders if he will ever play football again.
'It puts a lot of things into perspective an injury like this and it makes you think how lucky you are and how much other stuff I've got going on in my life that I want to be able to do.
Rule was instantly knocked unconscious in his clash with rival player Mitch Jackson, as distressed teammates started brawling with Jackson and his team
Mr Rule said he doesn't blame trainers for their actions and said they were just listening to what he was telling them.
A Go Fund Me set up on his behalf has raised over $10,000 to help cover the cost of some of the extensive treatment.
Mr Rule was contacted for comment.
Mitch Rule (left) said there is a lot of other things he wants to do with his life and the incident has put things in perspective
