GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: The gruesome footy injury that took 43 days, 80 stitches and a skin graft to fix after player reported a 'corky'

A park footy player tried to walk off a serious injury he thought was a 'corky' only to discover he had the same gruesome injury that left a former AFL player's leg totally exposed to the muscle.

John Walker, a Springvale Districts defender, suffered what he thought was a normal corky in a practice game against Bonbeach in March. 

Despite continuing to play, his condition worsened drastically the next day when he lost feeling in his leg. At the hospital, nurses raised concerns about amputation. 

After six hours of surgery, 80 stitches, and a skin graft, Walker began a remarkable 42-day recovery that left him in shock.

'I went to the beach that night for a bit of recovery, went to bed and thought it was just a normal corky,' Walker told News Corp.

'I woke up Sunday still really sore, back to the beach, more recovery.

'The day went on, I got ready for work and then I started losing the feeling in my leg so I thought I should get it looked at.

'I went to hospital and ended up going straight into surgery … six hours, 80 stitches and a skin graft later, here it is.'

Walker's injury, known as Compartment Syndrome, occurs when pressure builds up and reduces blood flow, depriving muscles and nerves of nourishment. 

Former St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary had the same injury in 2019, spending a week in the hospital with a long open wound to drain blood. 

'I've heard of the injury before and I've seen photos but not as big as that,' then-Saints coach Alan Richardson said at the time.

'It's a really significant injury … but we're now relatively optimistic that after a period of letting it heal and then re-training and seeing how it responds, he's a chance to be coming back and playing footy.'

Geary's wound required fewer stitches than Walker's, highlighting just how close Walker came to losing his leg.

In fact, he thought the nurses were just joking around when they spoke of removing the injured limb. 

'They pretty much said 'you need to go under the knife immediately otherwise you're losing a foot',' Walker said.

'At first I thought they were joking around, 'whatever, it's just a bit of a knock'.

'When I started signing the wavers, that's when I thought 'this is pretty serious now, hey?'

'I was two hours off losing a foot, so I was glad to go (to hospital) when I went.'

Walker is on the recovery trail now and started his comeback to footy as soon as he could put weight on the leg again. 

'It's just nerve damage now, the nerves will start regenerating in a few months,' he said.

'Down the back of my leg I still have feeling but the front of my shin, top of my foot it's just all numb.

'It's kind of like a little electric shock going through my leg whenever I kick it.

'They reckon about 80 per cent of it will come back.'