'Missed you': Gary Ablett's emotional reunion with sick son
Gary Ablett’s wife has documented his emotional reunion with son Levi after the Geelong Cats star rushed home to be with his sick child.
Ablett played in Thursday night’s 22-point loss to Collingwood at Optus Stadium, but flew back to Melbourne on Saturday to be with his family.
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The 36-year-old recently revealed Levi had been diagnosed with a rare and degenerative disease.
On Friday night, wife Jordan posted a photo of Levi on her Instagram account and tagged The Royal Children's Hospital as the location.
Then on Sunday she posted a photo of Ablett embracing Levi as he arrived home at Melbourne Airport.
“We missed you,” she wrote on the Instagram post, showing Ablett’s anguish as he hugged his sick son.
Ablett expresses desire to return for Geelong
Ablett will now miss up to a month of footy after opting to leave Geelong’s quarantine hug in Perth.
Ablett addressed his teammates on Friday night to tell them about his impending departure, and also of his desire to return.
“Gary's intention is to return to the hub at some stage,” Geelong's football operations manager Simon Lloyd said.
“His intention, he said this to the group last night, he wants to get back and playing and his objective is to help Geelong win a premiership this season.
“He'll continue to train when he returns to Geelong.”
Ablett will miss games against Fremantle and West Coast in Perth at the very least.
If Geelong move to Queensland as expected after their Perth hub, Ablett can rejoin them there.
But given he'll need to quarantine for at least 14 days, it appears Ablett will be unavailable to play for at least a month.
Former Cat Andrew Mackie, who retired at the end of 2017 but is part of Geelong's recruiting team, will become Ablett's training partner in Victoria.
Mackie is in the process of being tested for COVID-19, and will be able to train with Ablett when he is cleared.
Ablett recently revealed his son's health diagnosis in a heartfelt Instagram post.
“Some of you might already know that (my wife) Jordan is caring for her mum as she battles with cancer,” Ablett wrote.
“But what many of you don't know is that our son has been recently diagnosed with a rare and degenerative disease.
“We thank you for your love and support and want to emphasise just how grateful we are to be Levi's parents. He is a true blessing to us and our family and we love him so deeply.”
with AAP
