Neil Sachse

Neil Sachse
Personal information
Date of birth	(1951-01-03) 3 January 1951
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1970-1974 1975	North Adelaide Footscray	86 (-) 02 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1975 season.

Neil Sachse (born 3 January 1951) is a former SANFL and VFL Australian rules footballer, who was left a quadriplegic after an on-field accident in a 1975 VFL game.

Footscray career

Sachse was a premiership player for SANFL club North Adelaide. He moved to the Footscray Football Club in the VFL in 1975.

In his second match for Footscray (Round 2, 1975), Sachse was left a quadriplegic after an accidental collision with Fitzroy player, Kevin O'Keeffe. He was left with no use of his legs, and little movement in his hands. However he can still move his arms and breathe normally.

The Neil Sachse Foundation

In 1994, Neil Sachse and Dawn Ferrett founded an organisation to raise funds for research into the treatment of spinal cord injury. Originally known as the Spinal Research Fund of Australia Incorporated, it was renamed the Neil Sachse Foundation.

Since 1994, it has raised over $2 million which has funded a research project at Flinders University that proved that nerve fibres in the spine can regenerate past the site of the injury and return some function.

In 2009, in recognition of his tireless work and dedication, Neil was awarded the "Premier's Award for Outstanding Community Achievement in South Australia" at an Awards Ceremony run by the Australia Day Council of SA at Government House.

Neil's biography, Playing On, written with Michael Sexton, was released through Affirm Press in August 2015.

External links

• Neil Sachse's statistics from AFL Tables
• Neil Sachse's profile from AustralianFootball.com
• The Neil Sachse Foundation Website
• Quadriplegic footballer keeps up the fight, ABC, 29 June 2009