Neil Frederick Sachse (3 January 1951 – 25 August 2020) was a

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) and

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL)

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er, who was left a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of Motor control, motor and/or Sense, sensory function in the Cervical vertebrae, cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weak ...

after an on-field accident in a 1975 VFL game.

Footscray career

Sachse was a premiership player with

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

before moving to VFL club Footscray in 1975. In his second match for Footscray (Round 2, 1975), Sachse was left a

after an accidental collision with Fitzroy player Kevin O'Keeffe. He was left with no use of his legs, and little movement in his hands. However, he could still move his arms and breathe normally.

The Neil Sachse Foundation

In 1994, Neil Sachse and Dawn Ferrett founded an organisation to raise funds for research into the treatment of spinal cord injury. Originally known as the Spinal Research Fund of Australia Incorporated, it was renamed the Neil Sachse Foundation. Since 1994, it has raised over $2 million which has funded a research project at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

that proved that nerve fibres in the spine can regenerate past the site of the injury and return some function. In 2009, in recognition of his tireless work and dedication, Neil was awarded the "Premier's Award for Outstanding Community Achievement in South Australia" at an Awards Ceremony run by the Australia Day Council of SA at Government House. Sachse's biography, ''Playing On'', written with Michael Sexton, was released through Affirm Press in August 2015. Sachse died on 25 August 2020.

References

External links

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The ''Neil Sachse Foundation'' Website

ABC, 29 June 2009 1951 births 2020 deaths Australian rules footballers from South Australia North Adelaide Football Club players People with tetraplegia Western Bulldogs players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1950s-stub