St Kilda midfielder Paddy Dow out indefinitely after traumatic hospital stint over Christmas

St Kilda midfielder Paddy Dow will miss the start of the 2025 AFL season after an unexpected and traumatic stint in hospital over the Christmas period.

The 25-year-old required three bouts of surgery after club doctors drained around 120ml of brown liquid from his knee.

Dow reported a fever to the club about a week before Christmas, one day into the players’ leave.

A day later, the same knee whose bone bruising sidelined him for the start of the 2024 season began to swell up.

Shortly after he came into the club the next day to have it drained, he was taken to the emergency department of the Epworth Hospital in Richmond, where he underwent arthroscopic surgery.

The midfielder had two more round of surgery between Christmas Eve and the new year before eventually being discharged from hospital on January 6.

“I thought I was leaving on the 24th and then I thought I was leaving on the 27th and they just ended up keeping me,” Dow told the AFL’s website.

“After the third washout on the 28th, things started to get better. They weren’t getting any worse, it started to plateau and then three or four days later it started to feel good.

“I was in hospital for three or four days at the end where I felt fine and thought I could have left.”

Dow’s mother moved down from their family home in Swan Hill to be with him during the period.

He had visits from coach Ross Lyon on Christmas day and the club’s high performance boss Alex Sakadjian multiple times, while footy boss David Misson rang him every day.

“The club has been incredible,” Dow said.

“‘Misso’ was calling me every day, Alex was talking to me a lot and came in Christmas Eve — he bought me a good book to read.

“Then Ross came in Christmas morning. That was unreal, I didn’t expect that from him.

“I talked to him for a couple hours and then he went off to family Christmas lunch.”

“I’m really proud of the club and the way it has been handled,” Misson told the AFL’s website.

“Paddy went downhill pretty quickly the day he went into hospital. Everyone got involved.”

“It was an interesting time for the family; they’ve got the farm in Swan Hill and it was harvest time for his dad.

“It was a really tough time for the family, so as a club we were really conscious of that and wanted to really wrap our arms around the Dow family and provide as much support as possible.”

The club is yet to frame a timeline for Dow’s return to play, and it is not yet a priority to do so, with his health coming first at this stage.

“We’re right behind you, Paddy,” the Saints wrote on social media.