While Dr Brad is not Grant’s treating doctor, speaking from experience with his own patients, he advises: “Anyone recovering from a back injury [has] to be careful how they use their back. Doctors are always telling patients to slow down, don’t use your back like a crane, use your knees and don’t lift anything too heavy.”
So why isn’t Grant listening to his doctors? His behaviour has left some people wondering if there is more to the story.
“Back to rehab,” one person commented on a Daily Mail article.
Dr Brad explains it can be easy to forget about a back injury if you’re no longer in pain, but Grant is no stranger to this sort of serious injury and recovered so well he felt strong enough to return to TV.
Back in 2008, Grant broke his back in a horrific monster truck smash and required months of recovery. However, it wasn’t until after his Gold Logie win last year that
Grant revealed to The Daily Telegraph that the injury had left him in a dark place.
“I mentally wasn’t well, I was on pain medication for [a] long time, and I probably wasn’t aware of the effects of that. I just didn’t have an education to be able to deal with it,” Grant said.
“I think I was caught in that trap and a whole whirlwind of emotions that meant I was at my lowest.”
Dr Brad adds that back injuries can really affect a person’s mental health.
While Dr Brad is not Grant’s treating doctor, speaking from experience with his own patients, he advises: “Anyone recovering from a back injury [has] to be careful how they use their back. Doctors are always telling patients to slow down, don’t use your back like a crane, use your knees and don’t lift anything too heavy.”
So why isn’t Grant listening to his doctors? His behaviour has left some people wondering if there is more to the story.
“Back to rehab,” one person commented on a Daily Mail article.
Dr Brad explains it can be easy to forget about a back injury if you’re no longer in pain, but Grant is no stranger to this sort of serious injury and recovered so well he felt strong enough to return to TV.
Back in 2008, Grant broke his back in a horrific monster truck smash and required months of recovery. However, it wasn’t until after his Gold Logie win last year that
Grant revealed to The Daily Telegraph that the injury had left him in a dark place.
“I mentally wasn’t well, I was on pain medication for [a] long time, and I probably wasn’t aware of the effects of that. I just didn’t have an education to be able to deal with it,” Grant said.
“I think I was caught in that trap and a whole whirlwind of emotions that meant I was at my lowest.”
Dr Brad adds that back injuries can really affect a person’s mental health.
“One minute you’re running around, totally healthy. Next minute you’re in the emergency department unable to get out of bed,” he explains.
“Regular exercise is an effective treatment for many people suffering from anxiety and depression, so lying on your back unable to move quickly takes its toll on your mental wellbeing.”
In an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle, Grant confessed that his recent stint in hospital left him feeling very lonely.
“When you’re in that much pain and you’re isolated, it gets tough,” he said. “There were a few times when the nurse would turn the light off to go to bed and I’d have a little cry to myself because I wasn’t in a great way.”
And it seems Grant’s accident may not only be taking its toll on his physical and mental health, but also affecting his family.
While Chezzi has been nothing but supportive of her husband, she has admitted that looking after their daughters, Sailor, 8, and Scout, 3, alone while Grant was in hospital left her feeling “exhausted”.
During an interview with Grant’s radio co-hosts, Ash London and Ed Kavalee, Chezzi choked up while saying: “Sailor said the other day, and it broke my heart, I’ll probably cry, but she said – because she’s been having nightmares – ‘I just want Daddy to come home, I don’t want him to work anymore because I’m really worried he is going to end up in a wheelchair.’”
For more, see this week's New Idea