Every footy follower in Australia is familiar with Casey Tutungi’s tragic story, but few realise how close Carlton’s Simon White came to suffering the same fate during a Box Hill match this season.

“I went to sort of sidestep a tackle and duck under – well, I thought I’d duck under – his arm, and just sort of got hit flush on,” White recalls.

“It was just a click in the neck and I didn’t think much of it at the time.

“Doc had a look at me and I could twist my head pretty well, I just thought it was a little bit tight. The next few days I had a bit of a stiff neck but didn’t really think much of it.”

A few days later, a scan revealed White had fractured the C3 vertebrae in his neck. Had he continued to play on and got another little knock, the results would have been dire.

“That was a little bit scary,” White says.

“I was lucky they’d picked it up then and there.”

“I was very lucky obviously. To be where he is and where potentially I could’ve been is completely different (to where I’ve ended up)” – Simon White.

While a secondary knock would have done some serious damage, White counts himself lucky the first hit didn’t have more serious ramifications.

“I read up a little bit about Casey and I think he damaged his C4 and C5 vertebrae. Mine was roughly round the same area – the C3 vertebrae,” White says.

“I was very lucky obviously. To be where he is and where potentially I could’ve been is completely different (to where I’ve ended up).”

Teammate and housemate Michael Jamison says the incident is a reminder of how little it takes for something to go wrong.

“It wasn’t a huge hit, it wasn’t a hard hit, and you can see how easily something like that could happen.”

Jamison was shocked upon finding out how serious White’s injury was.

“When he first told me (he’d hurt his neck) we sort of almost joked about it. We thought he might miss a week because he didn’t think he was that sore,” Jamison recalls.

“When we found out how serious it was it put things in perspective.”

White has missed the entire 2013 season as a result of his injury, but is thankful the outcome of his collision wasn’t far worse. Aside from having to wear a neck-brace, White’s day to day life has been largely unaffected. Any return to football next season would simply be a bonus.

Words by Sam McInerney