Dave Hughes Injury Update
Dave Hughes, the beloved Australian comedian, is currently in intensive care at Cabrini Hospital after suffering a pretty rough night at the AFL Legends match—a night that began with him laughing off the idea of any “real” injuries and ended with five broken ribs and a punctured lung. Andrew McCormack (@_AMcCormack7) shared on Twitter that Dave Hughes is currently in the hospital after suffering multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung during last night’s Legends Game.
If you’re picturing a typical legends game as a bunch of grinning ex-footy players and TV personalities kicking the ball about and sharing gentle banter, well, so did Dave. That illusion didn’t last long. According to reports and his own call-in from the ICU (because, of course, he’d call a radio show from the ICU—classic Hughesy), he was repeatedly on the receiving end of some heavy hits, especially from the likes of Andrew Embley, Mitch Robinson, and Dan Gorringe.
At one point, after dropping a mark under the bright Marvel Stadium lights (he blamed the lighting, probably half-joking, half-desperate), Embley absolutely cleaned him up. “I feel like I have a punctured lung,” he told teammates at halftime, thinking he was being funny—until he woke up groaning and barely breathing the next morning. One hour ago, Dave Hughes (@dhughesy) shared on Instagram that he played the Legends Game with five broken ribs and a punctured lung after big hits. He joked that he was glad he still kicked a goal, saying many pros have missed from the same spot.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DN7ldMxEkhp/?
That’s when his wife, Holly, who’d apparently witnessed enough, made the call to get him to the hospital (even though Dave, in stubborn AFL fashion, had refused an ambulance because he’d previously called out players for using them too much).
Some footy greats, like Brendan Fevola, were openly calling Robinson’s hit a “dog act,” while Triple M’s Nick Riewoldt half-joked that Hughesy’s performance was “one of the toughest things” seen on a footy field, noting the comic legend was still out at the after party until 2 am—despite not drinking, because Hughes is famously teetotal.
Even Shane Crawford, coach of the opposition, was recorded telling his team to go after Dave as a bit of a running joke, with Dave later admitting his name was “on the whiteboard.” It’s all so very Hughes: the guy spends a night taking hits from pro athletes twice his size, cracks jokes about it on live radio from his hospital bed, and probably leaves half the country feeling equal parts worried and, honestly, a bit in awe. Here’s hoping he’s back on his feet soon—maybe giving footy just a little more respect (and maybe avoiding playing ruck against men built like SUVs next time).
