Zac Stanton's Brain Injury

Hi All - Please join us in making a difference in my friend Zac’s life!

Zac was playing AFL for his local football club in June 2021 when he suffered a life-changing head injury from a collision with an opposition player. Upon impact, Zac was concussed, bleeding and had spinal fluid leaking from his ear. Zac then spent the next 2 weeks in hospital recovering. He learnt that he had narrowly avoided a fatal accident, however now has significant long-term damage to his brain, hearing and nervous system.

We are asking for people to come together to support Zac on his rehabilitation journey and alleviate some of the financial stress on himself and his family, the smallest of donations can make the biggest differences.

Two years on from the accident, Zac is still discovering the ongoing effects from the collision and has found out he will receive no assistance from insurers for his brain injury. After recovering from the initial fractured skull, blood clot, spinal concerns, and learning how to walk again, Zac still has a long journey ahead. Whilst dealing with permanent and total hearing loss in his right ear and vision impairment, he is still attempting to rehabilitate his eyes and brain to be able to handle movement.

The injuries that Zac has suffered have meant that he was unable to work full time for over 8 months, and with his family, has spent tens of thousands of dollars on rehabilitation and medical costs. He spends hours each day completing rehabilitation exercises in an effort to get his old life back. To add to this, Zac travels to Melbourne once a month to seek help from a rehabilitation expert who specialises in brain injuries – one of the few Australia has.

Now, where exactly does your donation go? Zac is going to need a cochlear implant, monthly trips to a specialist in Melbourne for the foreseeable future, daily injury rehabilitation and impacts to his professional career to focus on his rehab. All of the donations will support Zac on his unknown journey, and although he is doing everything to get back to a positive “new normal”, we know injuries to the head can present ongoing challenges and setbacks.

Every donation, no matter how big or small matters, and it will make a difference to Zac and his family’s lives! Zac’s other goal is to raise awareness and fight for other non-professional athletes that suffer from similar injuries and receive minimal assistance from insurance providers.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated by Zac and his family. More information can be found in the below media links and videos.

ABC Report - Zac's Brain Injury

This GoFundMe has been set up by Zac's friend, Lachlan Goves, at the request of Zac and his family. All donations will be directly deposited to Zac (beneficiary) to use for his rehabilitation and medical costs.