A major health scare for Melbourne AFL defender Harrison Petty has ended with an unexpected positive update: the blurred vision that forced him out of last Sunday’s win over Brisbane is almost certainly the result of a severe vestibular migraine, not a concussion as initial fears suggested.
Petty was removed from the field in the closing stages of the Demons’ thrilling clash against the Lions after he suddenly became disoriented following an uncontested kick. Immediately after the match, head coach Steven King confirmed the player had reported sudden blurred vision, which sparked widespread concern given Petty’s documented history of previous concussions, including a high-impact collision with a teammate during a 2018 training camp.
Speaking to media ahead of Melbourne’s upcoming test match against Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday morning, King shared the much-anticipated results of multiple medical assessments that have all but ruled out a concussion diagnosis. “He’s going well, he’s had a lot of tests done and I think at this stage we’ve ruled out concussion even though we’ve put him in the protocols to look after his welfare,” King told reporters. While one final test result is still pending, King said extensive evaluations conducted by external medical consultants have pointed to a migraine as the root cause of Petty’s episode.
“At this stage it looks some type of migraine – which is great news,” King said. “He’s still in the protocols, but we’re really bullish on him getting through. If he gets through protocols this week, he’ll be in a really good place to potentially play. We just want to make sure he gets through and ticks off the boxes he needs to, so that’s a great result for Harrison and for us.”
King also pushed back on suggestions that Petty’s past concussion history was linked to this latest incident, noting that the defender felt surprisingly well immediately after the match – a symptom that did not align with a typical concussion presentation. “Remarkably, he was actually pretty good after the game, which sort of told us it might not be as simple as concussion,” King explained. Acknowledging he was not a medical expert, he clarified that the issue was classified as a vestibular migraine, and there was no connection to the player’s previous head injuries. “This was more a vestibular migraine – I am not sure if that’s the word, I am not a medical expert, so I can’t give too much opinion on it, but it’s not linked at all. It was probably the best scenario for us and outcome we could’ve hoped for, really.”
In addition to the update on Petty, King addressed questions surrounding young player Jai Culley’s recent knee concern, confirming that an earlier routine check-up for minor knee discomfort was unrelated to the season-ending ACL rupture Culley later suffered. “No fear at all. I think players come off all the time to get assessed by doctors and Jai’s one incident was pretty obvious that’s where it happened,” King said. “I think a lot of players when they come off and complain of sort of (injury), you do get assessed, whatever part of the body. He’s fine, unfortunately it was that one incident which took place.”