SPORTS EDGE

Polak continues recovery

Richmond defender Graham Polak has climbed out of bed and had a shower following waking up from an induced coma where he has been placed since Saturday night when he was struck by a tram in Melbourne.The 24-year-old former Fremantle defender was struck by a tram on Saturday night and suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Alfred Hospital where he was placed in an induced coma by doctors.While doctors were pleased with Polak’s steady improvement, they also said it was too early to know if the 106-game AFL player would suffer permanent brain damage.“Graham is actually out of bed and had a shower and gone to the toilet,” Polak’s manager Paul Connors explained to the Nine Network. “For the family, it's been real filip.”Following the incident Polak’s family was flown over from Perth to join his partner, model Alice Oksuz, to be with the 24-year-old as he attempts to recover from the incident.The Alfred’s Hospital’s trauma director Mark Fitzgerald said that Polak was fortunate that paramedics arrived at the scene quickly and also commented that the former Docker did not have any brain swelling at this stage.“Without going into any great detail, he's had quite a severe blow to the head he was deeply unconscious at the scene, he's got some areas of brain injury on his scan, but he's a young person, he's very fit,” Fitzgerald said in an interview with Fairfax Radio. “We expect him (Polak) to recover over the next few weeks. It'll take some time before we can be absolutely positive of a good outcome, but he's doing very well.”Richmond president Gary March confirmed police would investigate the accident but said the club’s main priority was for Polak to make a full recovery.“The club's main concern is Graham's health and supporting his family and supporting our players, a number of whom were at the scene,” said March.“Graham's been a fantastic young man since he's come down here and we are particularly concerned for Cleve and Jordan (teammates Cleve Hughes and Jordan McMahon) who were at the scene.”“We've got a good support network down here ... experts in the field, obviously it's affected all our staff, not just the playing group.”
Author: Rodney Mouawad
Friday 27 June 2008 - 18:08:05