A court battle between former NRL player Ethan Lowe and the game’s insurer has seen videos of the championship-winning forward jet-skiing and dancing surface as he claims he suffered a serious and permanent injury following a career-ending tackle.
Mr Lowe, 33, brought action in the Federal Court against the NRL’s insurer, Lloyd’s of London, after it ruled he was not eligible for a policy covering paralysis.
During his eight years in the NRL, Lowe earned a reputation as a tough forward and made his State of Origin debut in 2019.
But the following year, at the age of 29, his career was cut short when he suffered a serious spinal injury in the Rabbitohs’ Round 10 loss to Newcastle in a seemingly innocuous tackle.
The case centres on whether Mr Lowe met the definition of paralysis under the policy, after Lloyd’s of London denied him access.
Lloyd’s of London has also raised the issue of whether a previous injury contributed to Mr Lowe’s condition.
The court heard Mr Lowe suffered a spinal injury in September 2016 when pressure was applied to the back of his head during a crushing tackle, causing a disc to bulge.
He returned to the field in early 2017.
Former football star Ethan Lowe (pictured outside court on Monday) is suing the NRL’s insurer over a crushing tackle that ended his career and has impacted his life.
Lowe (pictured playing for South Sydney in 2019) did not play again and was forced to hang up his boots at the end of the season.
“Once the surgery is done, we say the injury has been resolved,” Lowe’s attorney, Callan O’Neill, told the court on Monday.
Mr O’Neill said in his opening submissions that Mr Lowe had been given medical advice that his risk of re-injury was no greater than before the first injury because he was not suffering from neurological symptoms.
“This guy had no injuries and was playing at the highest level,” O’Neill said.
But in July 2020, he suffered another injury when pressure was again applied to his neck, this time in a tackle while he was taking a hit in the first half of their round 10 loss to the Knights.
O’Neill claimed he played another 60 minutes “bravely” but this caused a bulge in the C5/6 discs on the left side of his spinal cord, the court heard.
Mr O’Neill described it as a new and distinct injury and said Mr Lowe underwent surgery at Prince of Wales Hospital in July 2020.
He did not play again that year and was forced to hang up his boots at the end of the season.
The former Souths star says he now suffers from paralysis on one side of his body and struggles to perform simple tasks.
Mr Lowe, 33, says he suffers from hemiplegia – paralysis on one side of the body.
He says the left side of his body was severely weakened by the injury, even suffering from “claw hand” in his left hand.
During his testimony, Mr. Lowe was questioned about his ability to perform physical, everyday tasks.
On the first day of a hearing in Sydney’s Federal Court on Monday, the court was shown a video filmed by the South Sydney club promoting Sunshine Coast, in which Mr Lowe is seen riding a jet ski.
Pictured: An image of Ethan Lowe riding a jet ski, which was used in his court case against NRL insurer Lloyd’s of London.
The video, filmed in July 2021, showed Mr Lowe using both hands to steer the jet ski.
The court was also shown a video of Mr Lowe dancing with his wife to the song “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Mr Lowe, who now works for Tabcorp in Brisbane, said he had remained active and still lifts weights at the gym – he can even squat 80kg.
However, he said that was significantly less than the 160kg he could lift during his playing career.
And he said he was able to lift significantly less weight using his left limb compared to his right, sometimes half as much.
Neurologist Rowena Mobbs told the court Lowe was diagnosed with hemiplegia because he suffered from “severe weakness” on his left side.
During cross-examination, she acknowledged that she made a mistake in a report by describing Mr Lowe as suffering from near-total paralysis.
Mr Lowe made 143 NRL appearances, including starting at second-row in North Queensland’s Grand Final victory in 2015, as well as making one appearance for Queensland in the 2019 State of Origin decider.
The hearing continues before Judge Ian Jackman.