Former NRL star Chris Walker has revealed how he recovered from having his legs crushed by a container and how steroids have helped him get his old life back.
The former Queensland, Broncos, Roosters and Titans winger ‘cheated death’ when a 700kg container fell on his legs in December 2021 while in Far North Queensland.
The father of three was trapped under the steel slab and was probably just minutes away from dying when he was rescued.
“I can’t explain what it feels like to have a container fall on you,” said Walker, 44. news corporation.
‘I had gone from walking 2.5 million steps to being in a wheelchair unable to walk.
Chris Walker (left) was prescribed PEDs to help him recover from a terrible accident.
The former football star says drug use saved his life and made him feel superhuman.
‘Like any major event, it happens very quickly. I only remember the force of the container hitting me and it felt like I was being crushed by a whole group of 100kg rowers.
‘I felt so helpless. My legs were crushed. I could not do anything.
“I had so many emotions running through my head at that moment.
‘Please don’t lose your legs.’
“Please let me play with my children again.”
‘Please please. Do not die’.
It took workers around three minutes to save the old try-scoring machine, but their injuries were horrific.
“At one point I was considering having my left leg amputated due to the crushing nature of the injury,” Walker says.
‘My left leg was a mess. I broke my left kneecap, tore the meniscus in my left knee, tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and also had a compound fracture, so the bone was protruding out of my left leg.
The former tryscoring machine was crushed by a shipping container in December 2021, suffering shocking leg injuries (pictured) that left him wheelchair-bound.
The physical injuries were very serious and Walker also suffered mentally from the trauma.
‘I also broke the tibia in my right leg, so I broke both legs.
‘It had two rods that went down both legs. In the 18 months after the accident, I had five surgeries. I always thought my leg could get infected or that I could get gangrene.’
The former football star was out of action for many months and was forced to see a psychologist due to the mental anguish he has suffered, which at a critical moment even made him think about taking his own life.
Walker had always been against the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but found that they had helped his recovery.
“When my partner told me there were certain things I could handle, I kid you not, I felt like punching him in the face,” Walker admitted.
“He was walking like an 80-year-old man.
‘We trained together in the gym and three or four days later I was still hurting. You would feel excruciating pain just doing daily activities.
“My partner said to me, ‘I want you to be open-minded about this, but there are things that can help people who have had trauma in their life get back to some kind of normality.’
“He said, ‘There’s testosterone, human growth hormone, peptides… things, if done right, can give you some health back.’
Walker eventually agreed to try PEDs and hasn’t looked back, insisting that the course he took “saved his life.”
“It makes you feel superhuman,” he said.
‘If I had taken these things when I played for the Broncos, I would have scored 100 tries a season.
‘Now I can see why there is a temptation to cheat at the Olympic Games and in any professional sporting arena.
Walker (pictured with his wife Courtney) is against the use of steroids in sport, but is very grateful for their availability in his physical recovery.
‘Guys who tricked other natural guys into doing performance-enhancing drugs are a disgrace.
‘My recovery was incredible. I could do a weights session in the morning, then come back in the afternoon, then come back for dinner and not wake up sore at all.
‘The strength and recovery are incredible. In reality, it is totally unfair in a professional sporting context.
“There will be some people who will read this and judge me, but this is my story and I wanted to be honest about it.”
Walker followed his doctor’s orders during his recovery and has since stopped using PEDs.
He’s in great shape now, as evidenced by his workout videos on Instagram, in which he looks like he could still go out and play in first grade.
Walker now runs a thriving vodka business and is very happy to be living life to the fullest.
Life line 13 11 14
Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467