West Coast forward Jake Waterman has opened up on his battle with ulcerative colitis - an auto-immune disease that left the Eagle questioning his footballing future.
Waterman was sidelined with the inflammatory bowel disease ahead of his side's Round 13 meeting with Adelaide this year, and wouldn't appear at AFL level again in 2023 after battling with the ailment.
The 25-year-old spent 10 days in hospital and lost 12 kilograms in weight, with the West Coast father-son selection detailing what he had to endure off the field while separated from the rest of his team.
"I started panicking was when I was getting real nauseous, and started vomiting and whatnot," Waterman told the ABC.
"I had these lingering symptoms that just kept pecking away at me and progressively getting worse to the point where before a game where I just don't think I can play.
"My first three or four days (in hospital) I can't even remember it. I was so out of it. I probably spent most of it sleeping in tremendous amounts of pain."
Waterman's fitness levels fluctuated as he eyed a return to the training track, with one episode leaving the local talent unable to run for close to a month.
The 84-gamer said he "didn't think I was gonna get back" to playing at the elite level, but is now eyeing a strong 2024 season.
"I had one week where I did a bit of running and felt good and then the next week I just couldn't train," he added.
"The sensitivity in my stomach bouncing up and down was too much to bear. I pretty much called it that day, saying I'm not gonna run. I think I didn't run for four weeks.
"... At times I didn't think I was gonna get back here."
Waterman has since joined the main group for pre-season training and would even take out the club's time trial.
The 191cm forward is entering his eighth season in the royal blue and gold, with the Eagles looking to bounce back from a wooden spoon finish to 2023.
West Coast will face Fremantle and Adelaide during the pre-season before their meeting with Port Adelaide in Round 1.