The NRL hopeful who spent 10 days in a coma after a horrific spinal injury says his battle has now become more mental than physical.
Jacek McLaurin woke up in hospital with no feeling from his shoulders down in March after suffering a catastrophic injury playing in the Queensland Cup.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Jacek McLaurin faces uncertain future after spinal injury
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Former NRL prop JJ Collins has been suspended for seven weeks for the tackle that caused the injury.
The Burley Bears outside back spent 64 days in the intensive care unit at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane before finally being sent home to continue his rehabilitation late last month.
Since going down with the injury, McLaurin has had the rugby league community rally around him with fundraisers and social media support.
On Saturday, the 26-year-old shared an update to his 33,000 followers on Instagram.
“Hello people, just thought I would jump on and give everyone an update on how I’m going, how things are tracking, as I haven’t given an update since I was in the ICU and I’m sure people are interested in where I’m at,” McLaurin said in a video.
“Obviously I’m a lot healthier, I grow stronger every day — physically, mentally.
“I was very sick in the ICU. Since then, I’ve moved to the orthopedic ward, which is just like a waiting ward, and I was there for three weeks, and on Wednesday I got moved down to the spinal unit at Princess Alexandra, so just settling in there.
“Obviously a lot more of a mental battle just every day just dealing with fighting the demons, as you would say.
“But the support that I have, especially my immediate family — my little brother, my little sister, my mum and dad who are with me every day — just make that a whole lot easier. Without them, who knows where I would be.
“And obviously the rest of my family, who are working on helping me from home. And then also my friends, and even the strangers’ support; I get messages every day, it’s quite overwhelming having people message me saying that I’m an inspiration and that they look up to me, because obviously that’s a message that I’ve never received before.
“But I just wanted to say without the support of my family, I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing now.”
McLaurin and his family aim to go overseas to access better medicine and treatment.
“We’re a few steps closer to overseas and we’ve just sent out a lot more inquiries and MRIs to see where we will land, and hopefully we get that on track over the next six weeks and we head off and I can rip into my rehab,” he added.
“But thanks everyone again for the constant support and the fundraisers and everyone getting around me, it just continues to happen, even strangers that I don’t know. Everything helps.
“Love you all and we’ll keep ripping in.”
NRL commentator Andrew Voss was among several notable names to leave a message of support on the post.
“Love and best wishes from every league fan mate to you and your family. Already proving yourself as strong as any player I’ve called in the NRL,” Voss said.
Speaking to 7NEWS in March, Jacek’s brother Hamish said he’s as tough as they come.
“We know what Jacek’s capable of and we know how much of a fighter he is, so we’re never going to lose hope,” Hamish said.
