To her, he was just Tony: A 78-year-old grandmother chokes back tears as she recounts the harrowing life-or-d3;ath moment that AFL legend Tony Modra had to endure
The Australian Football League (AFL) community is currently gripped by deep concern for Tony Modra—one of the most iconic figures in the history of the sport—following a grave traffic accident this past Thursday afternoon. Although the 57-year-old former star is currently in “critical but stable” condition, the details emerging from the scene paint a nightmarish picture that fans find difficult to believe could be true.
Nature’s Fury on a Deadly Stretch of Road
The incident unfolded at approximately 5:15 p.m. in the Back Valley area, about 90km south of Adelaide. At that moment, Tony Modra was behind the wheel of a truck near his cattle property. High winds throughout the day caused a large tree branch to suddenly collapse, piercing through the windshield. Despite the severe impact to his head, Modra maintained the necessary composure to control his vehicle, preventing the truck from veering off the road. Immediately after bringing the truck to a halt, he managed to exit the cabin on his own, stumbling toward the roadside before collapsing due to the severity of his injuries.
“Guardian Angels” Amidst the Crisis
In that life-or-death moment, the timely appearance of passersby became a lifeline for the legend. 78-year-old Linda Cameron was the first to stop. In her memory, the scene was profoundly haunting:
“I pulled over, just left the lights on, ran down, and I saw this man, he was sort of going towards the other side of the road and really not well, holding his face.”
Linda recounted her desperate efforts to keep Modra conscious while awaiting the arrival of emergency teams:
“As I was approaching him, he sat down and I went over to him and helped him, and then he wanted to lie down. Not at any stage was he able to speak, and I said, ‘Look, just stay still’, and he sat down and then he kept his hand there, there was blood coming through his hand, and I realised I needed to do something. I just covered him up and tried to keep him warm and stayed with him and held his hand.”
To keep the victim’s spirits up, she persisted in communicating with him:
“He kept loosening my hand and that made me scared, so I said: ‘Hold my hand tight — squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Help’s coming, they’ll be here any minute’. I felt so bad for him.”
Notably, at that time, Linda had no idea that the man she was fighting to save was “Godra”—a name synonymous with greatness in AFL circles. To her, he was simply a human being standing on the brink of death. She revealed:
“He was just a man who was in trouble and it (his face) was bleeding really badly. I wasn’t going to leave him, not at any stage was I ever going to leave him. He needed help. His name was Tony, that’s all I knew, and I kept saying, ‘My name’s Linda and I’m not going anywhere’. I held his hand and I made him squeeze my hand — I probably squeezed the blood out of his hand, poor thing. But I kept saying, ‘Hold on tight’.”
Alongside Linda, a couple named Anthony and Sarah—who happened to have first-aid training—also stopped to provide assistance. Anthony described the event:
“I came around the corner and I saw a truck on the opposite side of the road so I started braking. He was driving towards Waitpinga and a tree branch fell and hit his windshield and he managed to control it (the truck). Then, he got out the cab himself and went to the side of the road and fell down. It was very windy. It wasn’t raining but the roads were wet, but that had nothing to do with the accident itself. It was just a tree branch falling that caused the accident.”
When asked about saving a sports star, Anthony stated:
“I just saw a man in trouble and knew what I had to do. I don’t follow sport … it wasn’t until this morning when I checked online for any information on it that I found who he actually was. He’s a man that needed help, that’s all it is to me.”
Hopes from Family and Community
Tony’s wife, Erica Modra, expressed her profound gratitude to the two heroes, Anthony and Sarah, through her husband’s close friend and former Crows captain, Mark Ricciuto:
“She just wants to say a very big thank you to the first responders, called Sarah and Anthony, who saved his life and helped talk through to Erica while things were going down. She said he’s going all right. It’s pretty amazing that he’s got through it.”
Colleagues and subsequent generations of players remain shaken. Coach Alastair Clarkson reflected on Modra’s aura:
“In his time in the game, it was nearly like pop star status.”
Meanwhile, Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks affirmed the legend’s influence:
“There’s certain people that have an aura about them and Tony is one of those. Our prayers are there, our thoughts, everything we can possibly do — which is not much at the moment — is there for him. We just hope he fights through this one.”
To the entire AFL community, Tony Modra is more than just a player; he is an icon—a legend remembered for his spectacular high-flying marks and innate goal-kicking ability. At this moment, all of Australia is praying for the man with the special “aura” to weather this storm and return to his family.
SOURCE: 7 NEWS
