Former Melbourne ruckman Jeff White has recalled an incident from 2005 that changed his life forever.
In an elimination final at the MCG between Melbourne and Geelong, Cats ruckman Steven King took a swing at the ball following a boundary throw-in and ended up connecting with White's face, which saw him fall to the ground and suffering a shattered jaw.
12 years on from that moment and White still lives with five metal plates and 14 screws in his face after the hit, which didn't leave him concussed, but just confused.
“I just leant towards the ball and his weight came from the right and just totally blindsided me and hit me right in the upper lip,” White said on SEN’s This is Your Sporting Life on Sunday morning.
“I remember laying there, I didn’t black out, I wasn’t knocked out.
“I just remember thinking I just couldn’t believe what it was.
“I had no idea how I ended up where I was.
“I got up, the doctor was there and I could see the pool of blood in my hands.”
As well as ending White's season, it also saw the 268-game ruckman in doubt for his own wedding, which saw him require surgery less than two months out from the big day.
“I was actually getting married eight weeks or six weeks later so it was a touch and go moment,” he said.
“We already had it obviously all booked, all the guests, the date — everything was set.
“The surgeon did a fantastic job. I had a beard for a little while and it was very numb, but ... it’s been OK since then.”
The incident also proved as a message to White, who said it would have been much worse had he not been wearing his mouthguard.
“You take positives out of negatives, positives was I had my mouthguard in and it didn’t hit me anywhere else because it could have been a totally different story,” he said.
“I guess one of the lessons for any kids, anyone playing footy, is that if I didn’t have my mouthguard in I would have lost all my front teeth.
“My teeth were stuck there and they still say to this day that if I didn’t have my mouthguard in I would have lost them all.
“That’s how big the hit was.
“So (to) all the kids (out) there, wear your mouthguard.”