INJURIES TO AMBROSE PALMER

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 5

INJURIES TO AMBROSE PALMER

DIFFICULTY OVER ADMISSION TO HOSPITAL ONE OF THE CLEANEST OF SPORTSMEN As reported on this page a week ago, Ambrose Palmer, Australian heavyweight champion, had been seriously injured while playing his favourite sport, Australian rules football. He is likely to be out of the game for six months, probably for all time, and his boxing career is ended. With a fracture of the base of the skull, a fracture of the cheek-bone, two fractures of the lower jaw, and one of the upper jaw, Palmer lies seriously ill in a private hospital in Melbourne.

A great deal of expert attention will be required before he is out of the doctors’ hands, writes Harold Balfe, in the Sydney Referee. That was disclosed by an X-ray examination. A well-known Sydney brain specialist said that fractures of the base of the skull often caused haemorrhage and cerebral paralysis. However, he thought that Palmer’s great physical resistance would bring him out of danger. Palmer’s injury was received during the first quarter of the match between his club. Footscray, and Essendon.

No Bed For Palmer. He was being rushed from the ground to hospital—at least, that is where his clubmates thought he was going, but hospital accommodation in Melbourne these days is as scarce as sovereigns in a collection plate. No beds were available at Royal Melbourne, St. Vincent’s, or Prince Henry’s. At Prince Alfred Palmer was examined, remained in the casualty ward for an hour and a half, then was informed that he could not be treated there, as his was not a necessitous case. Mr. Sam Ramsay, secretary of Footscray Club, then took Palmer to a private hospital, and there he was admitted and remains. Poor Palmer. The fairest player who ever pulled on a guernsey certainly has had the worst of bad luck. It is no credit to a great game or to some who take part in it as players that this scrupulous fairness of the man who is Australia’s heavyweight champion should have caused him more trouble than falls to the lot of most players. I’ve seen Palmer take knock after knock, all of them unfair, on the football field without retaliating, other than by the legitimate use of the shoulder. Time after time I’ve seen him struck foul blows with the elbow or knee, punched from behind, tripped and kicked. Taking Advantage.

It was the opening day of the 1939 Victorian League season, and Ambrose, to whom football, next to his family, is a ruling passion, was looking forward with keenest pleasure to a successful winter with the “Bulldogs.”

Playing in his usual place, the ruck, Palmer leaped for the ball in a scrimmage.

As he did bo two Essendon players converged on him. No doubt it was accidental, but the fact remains that Palmer was sandwiched between two heavy opponents, each coming in at a terrific rate. The shoulder of one Essendon man caught Ambrose flush on the jaw, and under the smashing impact he fell like a poleaxed steer and lay on the ground unconscious.

Yet it has never caused him to make the mistake of trying to pay his attackers back in their own coin. He has made the ball his objective, and has concentrated on it. One afternoon I was speaking to him in the dressing-room after a match. He had been through a gruelling time, and was a mass of bruises.

“I wonder how you manage to keep your temper, Ambrose,” I said. “Well,” he replied, “you know what would happen if I didn't. “I’d only need to hit a fellow once, and they’d put me out for life. “They’d say I was taking advantage of my position as a professional boxer. No, I’ve just got to take it if the umpires won’t protect me.” That last remark was significant—to me at least, for it has never been my opinion that Palmer received the protection to which he was entitled. , Now that this shocking accident has happened to him, maybe there will [be a review of the situation.

Trainers rushed to his assistance, but it was soon seen that he was badly injured. Ambulance men were called, and Palmer was carried on a stretcher to the dressing-room, where he received medical attention.