Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton has fought back tears ahead of North Melbourne star Majak Daw's "heroic" return from career-threatening injuries.
Daw was hospitalised in December 2018 after falling off Melbourne's Bolte Bridge and sustaining serious hip and pelivic injuries which resulted in him having to learn how to walk again.
The Kangaroos star's mental health struggles hit close to home for Brereton, who lost his father and brother to suicide.
The 29-year-old was named in Rhyce Shaw's side to play his first match in 706 days, and Brereton was overcome with emotion when discussing Daw's ability to reclaim his life after his mental health struggles.
"My Mum will be watching so she won't want to hear about that in detail. This is a huge problem in society, suicide," he told Fox Footy's Saturday Countdown.
"Majak tried. And so often we hear 'why did he attempt that'. We have a problem at the moment with COVID, 10 times as many people have taken their lives this year already. It is a massive problem, ten times the amount.
"We hear so often 'he had so much to live for, why would he do it?' They're all questions we ask. This is a bloke who almost did it, tried to do it, went bloody close to taking his own life.
"What made me emotional, he's got a chance to reclaim that life. Today, whether he plays well, good, bad, poorly. He has reclaimed his life today.
"For everybody that has family that have done it, this is a snapshot into their life of what their loved ones who took their lives could've done. They could've succeeded again in life with the right support around them.
"That's why I congratulate North Melbourne and Rhyce for the support around this young man. That man, he could've been a memory.
"He could've had his plaque in a funeral parlour somewhere. But his flesh living and breathing, he is living proof people can reclaim their lives."
Daw's long-awaited AFL comeback is undoubtedly one of the stories of the year, and Brereton described the feat as "heroic".
"What makes me upset, I'm so proud of him. I barely know him, I've met him two or three times," he said.
"A lot of people in my circumstance, thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who have a close link to someone who has taken their own life who love their footy and in some small way would live through this today.
"It's heroic what he's done. Well done Majak."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/dermott-brereton-brought-to-tears-over-majak-daw-comeback-mental-health-struggles/773477be-027d-44ab-86c2-03afc768548a
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