With an illustrious rugby career behind him, playing social soccer on the weekends with a few mates should have been a breeze.
But a favour and a freak accident left five-time Wallabies star Richard Tombs in a hospital bed, barely able to move.
Tombs, 51, was filling in for the for the goalkeeper of his Curl Curl over-35s team in August last year when he was kicked in the head following a powerful attempt at goal by an opposing team member.
He should never have been there.
Former Wallabies star Richard Tombs, 51, was playing soccer with friends on a Saturday when a freak accident changed his life
Mr Tombs suffered a devastating fracture to his spine after an opposing striker made an awkward attempt at goal, sliding towards him and colliding with the sportsman’s head
His family and friends have all rallied around him, using a Facebook page called Guns Out For Tombsy to send messages of support
Writing for the Player’s Voice, he revealed he hadn’t played much in the position, but when their regular goalkeeper broke his ankle, he stepped up to help out the team.
He stepped into goals in the next game too, lasting only ’10 or 15 minutes’ before an awkward ball came towards him.
‘The ball got into my arms and my defender peeled off,’ he wrote. ‘But the striker kept coming through. He ran into my head with his thigh.
‘The impact knocked me with a sort of whiplash onto my back. That was the instant.’
Mr Tombs should not have been in goals that day, but had offered to step in for a teammate with a broken ankle
Mr Tombs said as he was laying on his back, he was barely able to move – and what did move could not be controlled.
When an ambulance arrived, he was rushed to North Shore Hospital and had spinal surgery. His prognosis was not immediately clear, but it didn’t look good.
He had suffered an horrific fracture to his spine, that meant he may never be able to walk again.
But the former rugby star has undergone months of gruelling rehabilitation, and is determined to get back on his feet again.
He says he was spurred to push for recovery by a UK surgeon who had been visiting while he was recovering from the accident.
Mr Tombs said the surgeon had asked how he was doing, before requesting to see his feet move.
When the sportsman was able to wiggle his feet on command, the surgeon was overjoyed.
‘That’s amazing! You’ll walk again. You’re going to walk again,’ he told him.
He was initially given a grim prognosis, and told he may never walk again, but Mr Tombs has worked hard for nearly a year to get back on his feet
He completes hours of gruelling rehabilitation every week to try and regain more movement
Richard Tombs played five international games for the Wallabies, and was on the rugby union team for the NSW Waratahs
Since then, Mr Tombs has done everything to prove that doctor right.
Hours and hours of rehab, using parallel bars, then crutches, saw him nearly reach his goal, but then spasticity – an incurable condition that forces his muscles to contract – set in.
‘It’s really got a hold of me. It’s put me in a different frame of mind, to be honest,’ he said.
Mr Tombs is still working to heal as much as he can though, and pushing to get back on his feet.
In the meantime, his community have rallied around him, using a Facebook page called Guns Out For Tombsy to keep friends updated on his condition, and to fundraise for research into a cure for spasticity.
Mr Tombs says his family and community have rallied around him as he fights to get back on his feet, with fundraisers, meal donations and messages of support
Earlier this year, Mr Tombs (pictured with wife Carissa) was diagnosed with spasticity, setting back his plans for recovery significantly. The sportsman is still working hard to retain as much movement as he can