CHAMBERS Flat man Chris Jones knows how lucky he is to still be walking.
Last June the Greenbank Raiders Rugby League Football Club vice president suffered a serious injury similar to Newcastle Knights player Alex McKinnon's, while playing for the club's open side.
His C6 and C7 vertebrae were shattered after he was tackled by an opposition player, but luckily his spinal cord was not severed.
Mr Jones had to wear a head and chest piece to hold his head off his neck for six months to allow the breaks to heal.
He said hearing about Mr McKinnon's injury and the similar breaks in his vertebrae had made him realise how lucky he was to recover from his injury.
"I always knew I was going to get back to my normal self but I knew it was going to be hard getting there," Mr Jones said.
"If I didn't have the club, mates and family it would have been so much harder.
"I don't think anything could have been done to prevent my injury, there was nothing wrong with the tackle I got.
"Rugby league is a full contact sport and you're putting yourself in there right from the start."
Although Mr Jones will never play rugby league again, he said it was a small price to pay for making a full recovery from a shocking injury.
"I played for a long time and now that I can't play I help out when and where I can and I still enjoy watching my team play," he said.
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