AFL great Jonathan Brown has revealed he recently underwent surgery on a “low-grade brain tumour” in a major health scare.
In a joint Instagram post with wife Kylie on Friday, Brown shared a photo from a hospital bed and said he had surgery on Wednesday.
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“After undergoing a routine scan, I was recently made aware of a shadow on my brain that turned out to be a low-grade brain tumour,” he wrote.
“I underwent surgery Wednesday with a positive outcome.
“I understand a surgery of this nature creates interest and once I have recuperated, I will share my experience but for now I need to take some time to rest and recover.”
The 44-year-old was inundated with well wishes from the footy community.
“Rest up big fella, thinking of you guys,” wrote Sam Docherty, who battled testicular cancer twice while playing for Carlton.
Channel 7’s Abbey Holmes commented: “Oh Browny! So scary. Speedy recovery! X
“Speedy recovery legend,” wrote Carlton great Anthony Koutoufides.
Geelong champion Tom Hawkins said: “Speedy recovery Big Jon.”
Brendan Fevola commented with love heart emojis.
Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon provided an update on Brown ahead of Friday night’s AFL game between the Adelaide Crows and Western Bulldogs.
“We’re throwing our thoughts out to one of our great mates, Jonathan Brown, who sits on this panel and has done for a very long time and one of the all-time favourites at Fox Footy,” Lyon said.
“He’s had a pretty challenging week or so. He had a routine scan and was made aware of a shadow on his brain that turned out to be a low-grade brain tumour
“He underwent surgery on Wednesday and had a really positive outcome. I spoke to him about two hours ago. He was full of beans, bouncing around talking to Kylie and annoying her.
“On behalf of us at Fox Footy and the broader footy community, there’s been few more popular players than Jonathan Brown and few tougher.
“We send you our love big fella, take it easy, rest up, recuperate. We look forward to seeing your big ugly mug back on here in the not-too-distant future”
Brown, a leading AFL expert commentator, attended Fox Footy’s season launch in February and looked in good spirits when he presented the premiership cup at the Brisbane Lions’ season opener earlier this month.
Brown won three premierships with the Brisbane Lions in 2001-03, kicking 594 goals in 256 games for the Lions. He is a two-time All Australian and won the Coleman Medal in 2007.
Brown was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
The key forward is a three-time winner of the AFPLA Robert Rose Award for Most Courageous Player.
