North Melbourne midfielder Jed Anderson has revealed his struggles with a heart condition that resulted in the Roo taking time away from the game to recover.
Anderson explained in a recent Instagram post that he had been diagnosed with pericarditis, a condition that results in swelling or irritation in the thin membrane around the heart.
Anderson explained that he had been recovering on medication for an extended period of time, causing him to stay away from the game in order to help the recovery process.
“As many of you are unaware why I was away from footy I was diagnosed with pericarditis which is inflammation around the heart,” Anderson wrote in a post to Instagram.
“I was away recovering on medication.”
On a positive note, the ball winner has revealed he is back in full training with the first team and is looking to make a comeback to the game in the coming weeks.
“I’m back into full training and I cannot wait to get out there this weekend and hopefully put this all behind me and continue doing my dream job,” Anderson said.
The 28-year-old has been out of the game for some time now, suffering from an ankle injury late in the 2021 season. The midfielder also missed the AFL’s original deadline for players to be double vaccinated, meaning he was only able to rejoin his team in late February.
His extended time away from the game obviously means it would take a while for Anderson to ease back into the first team, with North Melbourne coach David Noble explaining after Round 2 that Anderson is still some time away from returning to first-team action.
“We sort of felt that his program was in a range of about 8-10 weeks to get him back up to a level,” Noble stated.
Anderson has played 75 games since arriving at North Melbourne from the Hawks, and averaged 18.9 disposals and 5.7 tackles in 2021 for the Roos.
