'Have it removed': AFL legend Sam Newman declares he could be forced to amputate his pain-stricken foot as there are 'not many alternatives left'
AFL legend Sam Newman has declared he could be forced to amputate his foot.
The media personality, 79, is weighing the impossible decision amid chronic pain in his right ankle, a result of several injuries sustained during his decorated AFL career and the wear and tear of an active life.
In 2021, Newman underwent ankle fusion surgery, which joined his ankle bones together to form one bone.
He had more surgery in March to replace his ankle with a metal joint in a Melbourne hospital.
Last week, Newman underwent a third surgery to insert screws near his joint.
As he recovers from the procedure in his Melbourne home, the AFL legend said he hopes it was the last of his effort to be finally pain-free.
Otherwise, Newman said amputation could be a last resort as he is now running out of viable alternatives to salvage his chronic ankle condition.
'There are not that many alternatives left," he told The Herald Sun on Sunday.
'It is not practicable to walk around with the pain as it is, it is not practicable to take pain killers all the rest of your life.
'The other viable option is to have it removed, amputated."
Newman said amputation would be a "pretty drastic" measure, and before that occurs, he will wait to see whether his latest surgery was effective.
He said he would not have undergone the operations unless they were "necessary" and hopes to be at least "reasonably pain-free" as a result.
Newman's ankle has deteriorated rapidly over the past two years to the point he can't walk more than 50 metres.
It comes after he suffered multiple ankle injuries while playing 300 games for Geelong from 1964 through 1980.
His health issues include a portion of his kidney being removed after a semi-final clash against Collingwood in 1967 and a head injury as a result of a botched stunt on The Footy Show.
Newman's health took a further dip in 2008 when he was treated for prostate cancer and was cleared of the disease after an operation.
If all goes well after his latest ankle surgery, the active 79-year-old hopes to embark on a caravan trip with his friend Sue Stanley in six weeks.
Newman and Stanley plan to travel up the coast and then venture inland for more than three months ahead of the AFL Grand Final in September.
He has recently been frequently seen out at events with the fitness queen, and they sailed from Coffs Harbour to Melbourne last year, remaining in high spirits despite their steering rod snapping mid-journey.
Nevertheless, Newman insists the pair are just friends.
'I am very happy to say I am a friend of hers and she is a friend of mine, but that is it,' he told News Corp in 2023.
'She is a girl friend of mine and that is two separate words: girl friend, not a girlfriend.'
Newman's fourth wife Amanda Brown died unexpectedly of an aneurysm and a stroke in 2021.
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