AFL legend Sam Newman reveals he may be forced to AMPUTATE his foot as 'debilitating' ankle injury has left him unable to walk and relying on pain medication
Sam Newman is facing an impossible decision as he battles to save his foot after years of agony.
The AFL legend, 79, is weighing his options - which include amputating his foot - if he cannot revolve the 'debilitating' pain he has lived with for years.
Sam underwent surgery to fuse his broken ankle in 2021 after years of wear, tear and injuries.
At that time, he had his right ankle bone replaced with metal joint and the operation had been a success.
However, in the years since, the former footballer has continued to suffer pain and difficulty walking, leading him to rely on pain medications.
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In recent weeks, Sam has had further surgery at a Melbourne hospital to add new screws around the existing metal joint.
If that doesn't work, the AFL great says that amputation is an option he is willing to consider as he's not only in constant pain, he's now 'can't walk more than 50 metres'.
'There are not that many alternatives left' Sam 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' he continued.
'The other viable option is to have it removed, amputated.'
Sam admitted 'that is a pretty drastic thing' and is waiting to see if his latest operation 'works first.'
The television personality has had a total of seven operations on both his ankles - three on one, and four on the other.
The latest surgery is a last resort to save his right foot, the football hero admits.
Sam had further surgery at a Melbourne hospital to add new screws around his existing metal ankle joint. If that doesn't work, the AFL great says that amputation is an option he is willing to consider as he's not only in constant pain, he's now 'can't walk more than 50 metres'
Sam has shared a confronting image of his X-ray back in 2021, with his ankle full of bolts.
'Surgeon William Edwards did this. Fused a broken ankle. Couldn't have done it better myself. Can walk again - three months ahead of all estimates,' he wrote at the time.
The one-time athlete, who played 300 games with Geelong Football Club over his illustrious career, suffered serious injuries during his time on the field.
Newman had a portion of his kidney removed after a clash during a semi-final against Collingwood in 1967, and has injured his ankles on multiple occasions.
He also suffered a head injury off the pitch when a stunt on The Footy Show went wrong.
Newman retired from football in 1980 and has become a popular face on television since.
Despite his ankle woes, last year the media personality was riding the high seas for charity, raising funds for the Rule Prostate Cancer organisation.
He set off from Queenscliff, Victoria and headed for his destination in the Whitsunday Islands on a sailing trip.
In the midst of the journey, Sam had to drop anchor and head to Proserpine Hospital in Queensland after being gored by his own drone.
In a social media post, Sam revealed his injured foot, which was cut deeply when a gust of wind sent the device careening into him.
He destroyed the drone in anger, before heading to hospital where he was treated for cuts, but did not requite stitches.
Sam faced another emergency when his boat caught fire when two of the vessel's batteries shorted out.
The trip has had ongoing dramas for the television star including 'horrendous weather and huge sea swells of six to seven metres'.
'We had to pull into Jervis Bay for repairs after the waves blew out a porthole and flooded most of the boat' Sam told the Herald Sun.
At one stage, Sam had to stop water from leaking into the boat by laying on the bed and keeping the porthole closed with his feet.
'It was like throwing cream puffs at the town hall. It did a fair bit of damage to the electrics and the interior of the boat' he said.
Sam added: 'We have had a few other minor problems; a transmission leak, a steering ram hydraulic leak, we have had a couple of burst hoses, we have had a little trouble with the radar, but we have survived.'
He was travelling with friend Sue Stanley, and it doesn't come cheap - Sam estimates the journey is costing him $100,000.
Sam revealed that he was inspired to make the trip following the tragic deaths of his wife Amanda Brown and his good friend Shane Warne, who died just months apart.
It was Sam's first long trip on a sailing boat, and although he has owned a few vessels, this is the first time he's taken them out to sea.
'It does make you reflect and I would say very indirectly that was one of the reasons I decided we may as well pack up and have a crack at this (sailing trip),' he told Neil Mitchell Asks Why podcast.
'What is the point of sitting around back in your apartment in six or seven degrees of warmth down there in Melbourne?' Sam continued.
'Might as well bite the bullet and come up here and do something before you don't have the chance to do it, looking back on those two people'.
The football star's wife, Amanda, died suddenly in March 2021, before his friend, cricketer Warne, passed away in March 2022.
'It changed me markedly,' the Geelong Football Club legend told The Herald Sun.
'I became more circumspect and a lot more emotional about people I know and tragedies that beset them or befall them.
'It affected me those two deaths that I experienced. And dear Amanda, it's coming up Sunday the anniversary of her death and that really knocked me around.'
He added: 'Shane's death and Amanda's death made me readdress or reassess how I do things.
'I think about both those people actually almost on a daily basis for a whole lot of different reasons.'
Warne passed away on March 4, the first day of a Thai holiday on the island of Koh Samui, after suffering a heart attack in his luxury villa aged just 52.
Sam and Amanda were an item for 20 years before tying the knot in November 2020.
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