Footy great turned TV commentator Corey Parker reveals shocking facial burns that got him sent home from the NRL grand final
- Star went from Brisbane Broncos to the Fox Sports team
- He suffered first-degree burns just before the biggest match of the year
Brisbane Broncos gone great Fox Sports analyst Corey Parker has revealed the first-degree facial burns that kept him from commentating on this year’s NRL grand final.
The veteran of 347 NRL games was enjoying a bush holiday with family and friends when a burn-off went seriously wrong.
“I was at a friend’s farm and there were some old wicker lounges that we were burning down,” Parker explained.
‘One wicker lounge went on the fire, then we threw a second one on the fire and it rolled away.
‘I instinctively moved to put it back on the fire, but when I grabbed the lounge it actually caught fire and the flames reached my arm.
‘Then I felt a big wave of heat hitting my face. It felt like opening an oven door and being hit by the heat.
“It was a more intense version of that and it hurt right away.”
Parker told News Corp he did not seek professional medical treatment and flew to Sydney the day after the accident to work on the grand final.
Corey Parker suffered first-degree burns to his face and arm in an accident at a friend’s farm
The Brisbane Broncos great (pictured with wife Margaux) was sent home when he turned up to commentate on the NRL grand final earlier this month
Parker opened up about a new health struggle earlier this year when he said he has ‘no doubt’ he is suffering from a fatal brain disease
“I thought the makeup girls would make it up to me, but they looked and said, ‘No, we’re not touching your face,’ so I flew back home,” he said.
Parker applied antibiotic cream to the burns to protect against infection and said his entire skin peeled off within a few days, adding that he has now made a full recovery.
The former Queensland State of Origin star revealed another health battle in February this year when he said he was positive he was suffering from a fatal illness linked to concussions and head impacts.
Parker said he has “no doubt” he is suffering from the effects of the deadly brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE is a degenerative brain disorder strongly linked to repetitive head impacts and cannot be diagnosed until after death.
It can lead to dementia, personality changes and suicidal thoughts, and there is no cure or treatment.
“This CTE, it’s the word that’s obviously being thrown around, and rightly so: it’s real,” Parker said.
‘I have no doubt about it; I have no doubt during my tenure as a rugby league player that I have symptoms, I have symptoms of CTE.
‘But it’s something you only really get to grips with when you’re post-mortem.
‘You can’t expect to practice a sport with a lot of collisions, [and] for [close to] 20 of those years at a high level, and had no side effects.
“You can try to arrange different things, but the damage is already done, right?”