Mike Brady, 78, performed Up There Cazaly at the AFL grand final on September 26, nine months after a fall in which he fractured his leg, ankle and foot in 12 places. He walked on stage without the walking stick he had been using, before a 100,000-strong crowd.
Mike Brady sings Up There Cazaly at AFL grand final months after fall
Mike Brady, 78, performed Up There Cazaly at the AFL grand final on September 26, nine months after a fall in which he fractured his leg, ankle and foot in 12 places. He walked on stage without the walking stick he had been using, before a 100,000-strong crowd.
Brady said the fall happened during a routine evening walk near his home near the Great Ocean Road in January. He said he landed on his backside, twisted his ankle back into place and dragged himself to a nearby fire station, "leaving a trail of blood and mud." He later learned he had fractured his leg, ankle and foot in 12 places.
His doctor told him not to push himself and said it was unlikely he would be able to walk anytime soon, according to the source. When the AFL asked whether he would still be up to performing, Brady said he vowed to be there even if he had to crawl on stage.
Brady said he was put in a palliative care place, which he described as tough because he felt he should not be there. After five months in hospital he returned home with the help of a wheelchair, later moved to crutches and mostly used a walking stick before the grand final.
Brady, an English immigrant who moved to Melbourne at the age of 11, had never been to a full AFL game when he was asked to create a tune to market the Victorian Football League. He first performed Up There Cazaly at the 1979 VFL grand final, introduced by his friend John Farnham, and said it was the first time he felt he belonged in Australia.
Brady said he spent much of his recovery writing new poetry and music, and that he wants to perform for the next two years, taking the song to its 50-year anniversary and his own 80th birthday. He said he was more determined than ever to take to the stage this year, fearing the AFL might not ask him back if he did not.
- The source does not state the year of the January fall, the September 26 grand final, or the date the article was published.
- The source does not name the doctor who treated Brady, the hospital where he spent five months, or the palliative care facility.
- The source describes a 48-year span since the song's first performance while also dating that performance to the 1979 VFL grand final, and does not reconcile the two.
- The source does not state whether the AFL attached any fitness conditions to the invitation to perform, or whether other performers were considered for the slot.
- The source does not state Brady's current medical status or any prognosis beyond his stated intention to perform for the next two years.
Read the original at ABC News Australia