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Neil Sachse, who raised millions of dollars for spinal cord research, has died 45 years after being left a quadriplegic in an injury while playing in the VFL.
Former VFL footballer and disability advocate Neil Sachse has died, more than 45 years after an on-field injury while playing for Footscray left him a quadriplegic.
Sachse died peacefully on Tuesday aged 69, Professor Steve Wesselingh, the director of South Australia's Health and Medical Research Institute, has confirmed.
"Neil was a larger-than-life personality who many of us knew and loved," Prof Wesselingh said.
"We've all seen and marvelled at his work ethic and determination to have a positive impact for society generally but in particular those who are living with spinal cord injury."
After his injury, Sachse established a foundation to advance spinal cord research which joined SAHMRI in 2017.
During his football career, he played for North Adelaide in the 1970s, before moving to Victoria where, in the second round of the 1975 VFL season, he was involved in an on-field collision with another player.
Since 1994, the Neil Sachse Centre has raised more than $8 million for spinal cord research and its current director Sarah Boucaut said he would be dearly missed.
"We are poorer for his loss, but spinal cord injury research is so much richer for what Neil has been able to achieve and his legacy continues," she said.