The lingering effects of a sickening ankle injury have forced Essendon veteran Andrew Welsh into an early retirement at the age of 28.
Welsh was never the same player after that fateful February afternoon at Whitten Oval in 2009 when he broke his fibula bone, dislocated his ankle and damaged ligaments during an intra-club match.
He now requires serious surgery which will involve an ankle reconstruction and a virtual reshaping of his foot to give him the best chance of avoiding having the joint fused later down the track.
The operation will require nine months of rehabilitation and carries with it no guarantees of an AFL comeback.
An emotional Welsh, who was a vice-captain at the club, told the media on Friday at Windy Hill that he would feel selfish by denying an up-and-coming player a spot on Essendon's list with so much uncertainty surrounding his football future.
"After breaking my ankle in 2009, I've needed ongoing treatment to be able to maintain and train and play AFL football," said Welsh.
"When I first did it in 2009, a break and dislocate was pretty severe at the time but the surgeon did a great job."
Welsh amazingly returned to the senior team four months after being operated on and just two matches into his comeback earned three Brownlow Medal votes when he nullified Carlton superstar Chris Judd and collected 30 disposals himself.
But Welsh explained that the condition of his ankle had deteriorated ever since and the pain had become unbearable.
"It's at the stage now where I've got to get pretty much a full reconstruction of the ligaments on the inside of my ankle," Welsh said.
"I've got to get a quarter of my heel bone shaved off and different bones in my foot cut out to try and balance it up."
"And that's why the recovery and the outcome of the operation is unknown because it is quite a significant operation."
Since debuting in 2002, he only missed 19 matches in his first seven seasons and became a mainstay in the Bombers line-up as both a defender and a negating midfielder.
However he could only manage another 28 games out of a possible 68 in his final three years as his ankle and a resultant 'frustrating' spate of soft-tissue injuries continued to dog him.
The ability to lead a normal pain-free life is now at the top of Welsh's agenda.
"I want to be able to go for a run when I'm in my 30s just for the sake of going for a run, I want to be able to play golf and surf and to be able to do that I need to act and get the operation done as soon as possible," he said.
Welsh played a total of 162 matches in 10 years with the Bombers after being taken at pick No.47 in the 2001 draft.