Young father fears he was paralysed after a brutal tackle

A 22-year old footballer feared he was paralysed after a brutal tackle left him with a serious spinal injury on Saturday.

Craig Wilson said he was scared when he couldn’t feel his legs after a dangerous tackle during an Australian Rules game.

‘All I remember was just tackling the bloke and waking up on the ground and I had no sensation in my legs or my arms,’ he told 7 News.

Wilson was previously wheelchair-bound for eight months after another serious tackle on the field (pictured, before in 2014)

‘I didn’t really want to come to terms with not being able to walk again, like last time,’ he said

Mr Wilson was airlifted from the football oval in Two Wells, on Adelaide’s northern fringe, to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. 

Returning to hospital was all too familiar for the young father who’s fiancée Jaymee-Lee is pregnant with their second child. 

The footy player was previously wheelchair-bound for eight months after a similar tackling incident in 2014.

‘I didn’t really want to come to terms with not being able to walk again, like last time,’ he said. 

When Mr. Wilson began regaining sensation in his legs, it was a moment of delight and relief for the entire family.

‘It’s unbelievable. I end up with my heart in my throat every time he went to hospital,’ his mother Kathryn Wilson said.

‘And they send him home and he can feel his legs.’

While Mr Wilson is expecting a full recovery, he will not take the risk of resuming his playing career, and instead is considering going into coaching or umpiring.

While Mr Wilson is expecting a full recovery, he said he won’t be returning to the field after two close encounters