Copping a knock to his larynx in the second quarter of Friday night's Dreamtime at the G clash against Essendon, Richmond's Tom Lynch was within his right to exit the game and head straight to hospital.
However, the 33-year-old, who could still breath but couldn't speak, refused to leave the game and continued to help his Tigers fight on for an impressive victory in his good friend Jayden Short's 200th match.
Speaking after the game, Richmond coach Adem Yze said he was in awe of his veteran's bravery.
"I'll tell you what he is, he's a tough bugger, and he's a leader of our footy club for a reason," Yze said. We thought he was going to hospital at half-time, but he didn't want to, he wanted to play for 'Shorty'.
"He couldn't talk, he's hurt his throat. So we don't know how bad it is, it was obviously okay and there was no risk in hurting it anymore, it was just around his voice.
"It's funny, he's the godfather of our forward line, and we need him to talk and lead, so we put it on our younger forwards to shoulder that load because he wasn't able to do that for the rest of the game. His contest and aerial power was exactly what we needed. He got through the game, and now he's gone to hospital for scans and precautions."
Lynch went to hospital after the final siren, spent the night and remains there as a precaution.
He finished the game with 10 disposals, two contested marks and a team-high 2.2.
