Ryan Fitzgerald's heartbreaking revelation in post-footy struggle

Ryan Fitzgerald has revealed how debilitating injuries have left him struggling to play with his young kids.

The 43-year-old played 18 games in a brief AFL career with Sydney and Adelaide, cut short by multiple knee injuries.

Now, the Nova radio host has opened up about how four knee reconstructions have done little to alleviate his pain.

Fitzy has revealed how a third surgery on his right knee in December has left him worse off, leading him to consider drastic measures.

“I went and got a knee reconstruction in December,” Fitzy said on air on Wednesday.

“Someone put me on to a surgeon, I went and got it done and it hasn’t got any better. It’s actually worse than what it was before I went in for the knee reconstruction.

“I have tried to build up the muscles around the knee and it hasn’t worked and I am getting the pain I was getting before the reconstruction.”

With the pain so bad he finds it hard to even kick a footy with his kids, Fitzy went to see the Swans doctor.

“I went and got a second opinion, I went to the Swans doctor and he goes ‘I’ll look at your MRI scans and I’ll X-ray your whole body’,” Fitzgerald said.

“So I have four X-rays, hips back, knees, everything.

“He has come back and said ‘first of all you have scoliosis in your back so you will have problems down the track’.

“‘You have got osteoarthritis in your hips that you will have problems with and why you have got pain in your right knee is you have really bad arthritis, you will need a knee replacement at some stage in your life’.”

The doctor’s recommendation was drastic.

“’I’ve had this procedure done, it’s a great procedure but you might need a leg alignment’,” the doctor told Fitzgerald.

“’What they do is break your leg underneath your knee and turn your knee to straighten up with the top bit of your leg, so you walk straight instead of bow-legged and you’ll be pain free, it’s changed my life.’”

A caller who has undergone the procedure then got in touch.

“The most painful thing I have ever had in my life,” caller Glen said.

“They cut through the bone, like a wedge when you cut a tree down, and then they use a donor bone hip they put inside the cut, that has got to heal for eight weeks, then you start your physio again.”

Fitzy said he was seriously considering it.