Bartel hospitalised but is ‘fine’
5:32 PM Sat 30 June, 2007 | Back
By Jennifer Witham
Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network
News
GEELONG midfielder Jimmy Bartel will spend a night in hospital after suffering numbness in his arms owing to a concussion sustained during the Cats' 18-point win over Sydney on Saturday.
Bartel was collected during the first half of the match and went off, but returned later in the second term before complaining of a lack of feeling in his upper limbs.
The 23-year-old, one of the favourites for this season’s Brownlow Medal, was removed from the venue at half time in an ambulance, complete with neck brace and breathing through an oxygen mask.
Football operations manager Neil Balme said Bartel is recovering from the incident and will spend the night in Geelong Hospital.
“He's fine, he's had a CT scan and everything is clear,” Balme said after the game.
“When he came off the ground, he was feeling a bit numb in the hands, so everyone was a bit concerned about that.”
“He's all clear, he's fine, he'll be in hospital overnight. We expect him to be 100 per cent.
“Whether he plays next week is another thing, but I hope he comes up. There is nothing serious.”
Balme quashed initial reports that stated Bartel had injured his arm and then suffered a reaction to pain medication.
“There is nothing wrong with his arms. What he did, he felt numb and that's what he was a bit concerned about, but he's fine,” Balme said.
“He got a whack in the head and we haven't seen the incident ourselves, so we're not sure how.
“Whether he landed on his head or someone ran into him, we're not sure.
“It was a bit of a delayed onset, he was okay, and then all of a sudden when he was off he was feeling very ordinary.”
Defender Max Rooke was the Cats' other big casualty and looks set to be sidelined for a few weeks after straining his hamstring.
Balme said it “doesn't look good” for Rooke, while coach Mark Thompson said the tagger will “miss a fair bit of footy” after the 25-year-old limped from the ground early in the first term.
Rooke has endured his fair share of hamstring heartache this season after missing the first seven rounds with complaints, and was back in the side this week after serving a one-match suspension.