08-05-2025
Paul Vander Haar: Footy legend who can't walk more than a few metres reveals the bizarre way he keeps breaking his ribs as he opens up about horrible toll the game has taken on him
Essendon Bombers premiership hero Paul Vander Haar has revealed injuries he suffered during his stellar AFL career have left him a broken man as he opened up about the shocking toll the sport has had on him.
The 67-year-old, celebrated for his courage, high-flying marks and huge contribution to Essendon's 1984 and 1985 premierships, has spoken candidly about his physical and mental struggles since retiring.
Vander Haar, known as The Flying Dutchman during his playing days, suffers from chronic back pain which has left him unable to walk much further than a couple of metres for the last 18 months.
He also suffers from random drops in blood pressure that have seen him black out and collapse - with one of those episodes ending with him waking up in hospital with a broken leg.
'I've had a hip replacement and seven operations on my right knee and it's still not good,' he told News Corp.
'I've had four pass-outs, where I've just been walking along or just sitting down and all of a sudden I just pass out and end up in hospital.
'It's just a loss of blood where your blood pressure drops. I'll just be sitting there and all of a sudden I'll fall off the chair.
'The last one I had, I'd just started walking up the driveway and passed out and broke my femur, the main part of the leg just under the hip. I was on crutches for six or seven months.
'My whole body aches. I wake up every day and it feels like I've played 10 games of footy in a row and I can hardly move.
'I've had a really bad back and I keep breaking ribs just leaning over the cabin of my ute, grabbing my toolbox.
'I'm trying different medications, but just getting sick of going to the hospitals and doctors and getting referrals and all that crap.'
Vander Haar admitted that he is 'struggling' with his mental health too, acknowledging that he received plenty of head trauma during his footy career.
'I had heaps of them (concussions) over the years,' he said.
'I copped plenty, but you kept going not realising what the consequences were.'
The Bombers great also suffers from random drops in blood pressure that have seen him collapse several times
Vander Haar, and two former teammates - Simon Madden and Terry Daniher - are speaking out to back the FifthQtr Foundation, a new not-for-profit group that helps ex footy players.
The footy legend says the AFL Players' Association and AFL needs to step up and do more for players who have retired.
'It's not the money that I'm after, I'm just trying to find somebody who can come up with some solutions,' he said.
'I just want to find a remedy. I'm just getting sick of it.'
